Section 18:
Giving opportunity to the owner of seized packages.
(1) No order adjudging confiscation or
directing payment of costs shall be made unless the owner or person in possession of the package of
cigarettes or any other tobacco products has been given a notice in writing informing him of the grounds
on which it is proposed to confiscate such package, and giving him a reasonable opportunity of making a
representation in writing, within such reasonable time as may be specified in the notice, against the
confiscation mentioned therein, and, if he so desires, of being heard personally or through a representative
in the matter:
Provided that, where no such notice is given within a period of ninety days from the date of the
seizure of the package of cigarettes or of any other tobacco products, such package shall be returned, after
the expiry of that period, to the owner or the person from whose possession it was seized.
(2) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (1), the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
(5 of 1908), shall, as far as may be, apply to every proceeding referred to in sub-section (1).