Supreme Court of India
Biswanath Bhattacharya v. Union of India & Others
[Civil Appeal Nos. 772-773 of 2014],
21st January, 2014,
It was held that the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forefeiture of Property) Act, 1976 “is not violative of Article 20 of the Constitution” and that even otherwise “in view of its inclusion in the IXth Schedule, the Act is immune from attack on the ground that it violates any of the rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution by virtue of the declaration under Article 31-B.”
Article 20 :-
- That no person shall be convicted of any offence except for violation of the law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence; and
- That no person shall be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.