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The facts of the case were as follows:
On receiving some secret information that silver would be transported in Jeep No. MRC-9930 and Truck No. BMS-796 from Bombay to a coastal place near Bassein, Shri Wagh, Superintendent of Central Excise along with Inspector Dharap and the staff proceeded in two vehicles to keep a watch on the night of September 14, 1968 at Shirsat Naka on the National Highway No. 8, Bombay City. At about mid-night, the aforesaid jeep was seen coming from Bombay followed by a truck. These two vehicles were proceeding towards Bassein. The officers followed the truck and the jeep which, after travelling some distance from Shirsat Naka, came to a fork in the road and thereafter, instead of taking the road leading to Bassein, proceeded on the new National Highway leading to Kaman village and Ghodbunder Creek. Ultimately, the jeep and truck halted near a bridge at Kaman creek whereafter the accused removed some small and heavy bundles from the truck and placed them aside on the ground. The Customs Officers rushed to the spot and accosted the persons present there. At the same time, the sound of the engine of a mechanised sea-craft from the side of the creek was heard by the officers. The officers surrounded the vehicles and found four silver ingots near the footpath leading to the creek. Respondent 1 was the driver and the sole occupant of the jeep, while the other two respondents were the driver and cleaner of the truck. The officers sent for Kana and Sathe, both residents of Bassein. In their presence, respondent 1 was questioned about his identity. He falsely gave his name and address as Mohamad Yusuf s/o Sayyad Ibrahim residing at Kamathipura. From the personal search of respondent 1, a pistol, knife and currency notes of Rs. 2,133/- were found. Fifteen silver ingots concealed in a shawl were found in the rear side of the jeep and twenty- four silver ingots were found lying under saw-dust bags in the truck. The truck and the jeep together with the accused- respondents and the silver ingots were taken to Shirsat Naka where a detailed panchanama was drawn up. Respondent 1 had no licence for keeping a pistol. Consequently the matter was reported to Police Station Bassein, for prosecuting the respondent under the Arms Act.

Let me now state the result of the search and research:

In order to constitute 'an attempt', first, there must be an intention to commit a particular offence, second, some act must have been done which would necessarily have to be done towards the commission of the offence, and, third, such act must be 'proximate' to the intended result. The measure of proximity is not in relation to time and action but in relation to intention. In other words, the act must reveal, with reasonable certainty, in conjunction with other facts and circumstances and not necessarily in isolation, an intention, as distinguished from a mere desire or object, to commit the particular offence, though the act by itself may be merely suggestive or indicative of such intention; but, that it must be, that is, it must be indicative or suggestive of the intention. For instance, in the instant case, had the truck been stopped and searched at the very commencement of the journey or even at Shirsad Naka, the discovery of silver ingots in the truck might at the worst lead to the inference that the accused had prepared or were preparing for the commission of the offence. It could be said that the accused were transporting or attempting to transport the silver somewhere but it would not necessarily suggest or indicate that the intention was to export silver. The fact that the truck was driven upto a lonely creek from where the silver could be transferred into a sea-faring vessel was suggestive or indicative though not conclusive, that the accused wanted to export the silver. It might have been open to the accused to plead that the silver was not to be exported but only to be transported in the course of intercoastal trade. But, the circumstance that all this was done in a clandestine fashion, at dead of night, revealed, with reasonable certainty, the intention of the accused that the silver was to be exported.