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"7. 'Mens red' is a state of mind, Under the criminal law, mens rea is considered as the 'guilty intention' and unless it is found that the 'accused' had the guilty intention to commit the 'crime' he cannot be held 'guilty' of committing the crime. An 'offence' under Criminal Procedure Code and the General Clauses Act, 1897 is defined as any act or omission 'made punishable by any law for the time being in force'. The proceedings under Section 23(1)(a) FERA, 1947 are 'adjudicatory' in nature and character and are not 'criminal proceedings'. The officers of the Enforcement Directorate and other administrative authorities are expressly empowered by the Act to 'adjudicate' only. Indeed they have to act 'judicially' and follow the rules of natural justice to the extent applicable but, they are not 'judges' of the 'criminal courts' trying an 'accused' for commission of an offence, as understood in the general context. They perform quasi-judicial functions and do not act as 'courts' but only as 'administrators' and 'adjudicators'. In the proceedings before them, they do not try 'an accused' for commission of 'any crime' (not merely an offence) but determine the liability of the contravenor of the breach of his 'obligations' imposed under the Act. They imposed 'penalty' for the breach of the 'civil obligations' laid down under the Act and not impose any 'sentence' for the commission of an offence. The expression 'penalty' is a word of wide significance. Sometime, it means recovery of an amount as a penal measure even in civil proceedings. An exaction which is not compensatory in character is also termed as a 'penalty'. When penalty is imposed by an adjudicating officer, it is done so in 'adjudicatory proceedings' and not by way of fine as a results of 'prosecution' of an 'accused' for commission of an 'offence' in a criminal Court. Therefore, merely because 'penalty' clause exists in Section 23(1)(a), the nature of the proceedings under that section is not changed from 'adjudicatory' to 'criminal' prosecution. An order made by an adjudicating authority under the Act is not that of conviction but of determination of the breach of the civil obligation by the offender.
8. It is true the breach of a 'civil obligation' which attracts 'penalty' under Section 23(1)(a) FERA, 1947 and a finding that the delinquent has contravened the provisions of Section 10 FERA, 1947 would immediately attract the levy of 'penalty' under Section 23, irrespective of the fact whether the contravention was made by the defaulter with any 'guilty intention' or not. Therefore, unlike in a criminal case, where it is essential for the 'prosecution' to establish that the 'accused' had the necessary guilty intention or in other words the requisite 'mens rea' to commit the alleged offence with which he is charged before recording his conviction, the obligation on the part of the Directorate of Enforcement in cases of contravention of the provisions of Section 10 of IERA, would be discharged where it is shown that the 'blameworthy conduct' of the delinquent had been established by wilful contravention by him of the provisions of Section 10, FERA, 1947. It is the delinquency of the defaulter itself which establishes his 'blameworthy' conduct, attracting the provisions of Section 23(1)(a) of FERA, 1947 without any further proof of the existence of "mens rea". Even after an adjudication by the authorities and levy of penalty under Section 23(1)(a) of FERA, 1947, the defaulter can still be tried and punished for the commission of an offence under the penal law, where the act of the defaulter also amounts to an offence the penal law and the bar under Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India in such a case would not be attracted. The failure to pay the penalty by itself attracts 'prosecution' under Section 23F and on conviction by the 'court' for the said offence imprisonment may follow.
11. The Constitution Bench then laid down that though the administrative authorities functioning under the Sea Customs Act had the jurisdiction to confiscate gold, illegally brought into the country, and levy penalty on the defaulter, none the less the authorities were not trying a criminal case but deciding only the effect of a breach of the obligations by the defaulter under the Act. On a parity of reasoning, what holds true for the adjudicatory machinery under the Sea Customs Act holds equally true for the administrative or adjudicatory machinery, designed to adjudge the breach of a civil statutory obligation and provide penalty for the said breach, under the FERA, 1947, whether the breach was occasioned by any guilt intention or not is irrelevant.
12. In 'Corpus Juris Secundum' volume 85, at page 580, paragraph 1023, it is stated thus :
'A penalty imposed for a tax delinquency is a civil obligation remedial and coercive in its nature and is far different from the penalty for a crime or a fine or forfeiture provided as punishment for the violation of criminal laws.'
13. We are in agreement with the aforesaid view and in our opinion, what applies to 'tax delinquency' equally holds good for the 'blameworthy' conduct for contravention of the provisions of FERA, 1947. We, therefore, hold that mens rea (as is understood in criminal law) is not an essential ingredient for holding a delinquent liable to pay penalty under Section 23(1) of FERA, 1947 for contravention of the provisions of Section 10 of FERA, 1947 and that penalty is attracted under Section 23(1)(a) as soon as contravention of the statutory obligation contemplated by Section 10(1)(a) is established. The High Court apparently fell in error in treating the 'blameworthy conduct' under the Act as equivalent to the commission of a 'criminal offence', overlooking the position that the 'blameworthy conduct' in the adjudicatory proceedings is established by proof only of the breach of a civil obligation under the Act, for which the defaulter is obliged to make amends by payment of the penalty imposed under Section 23(1)(a) of the Act irrespective of the fact whether he committed the breach with or without any guilty intention. Our answer to the first question formulated by us above is, therefore in the negatives."