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Section 20

of Control of Supplies Act 1961

ActIn forceProvision 24 of 37

Section 20

(1)

Any person who removes any controlled article or causes or permits any controlled article to be removed from any premises specified in the licence or stores any controlled article or causes or permits any controlled article to be stored in any premises, other than premises specified in the licence or premises approved by the

Controller for such storage, shall be guilty of an offence against this

Act.

(2)

The Controller, any supplies officer or any police officer not below the rank of Inspector, if he suspects that any controlled article is being stored or dealt in in any premises in contravention of this section, may, notwithstanding any law to the contrary for the time being in force, without a search warrant enter upon the premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not any such controlled articles are in those premises.

(3)

In any prosecution for an offence under this section it shall be sufficient for the prosecution to prove that any controlled article, to the ownership or possession of which the defendant was entitled, was found in premises other than premises specified in the licence or premises approved by the Controller, and the burden of proving that the defendant is not guilty of an offence against this section shall then lie upon the defendant.

(4)

Any controlled article found in the course of a search under subsection (2) upon premises other than premises specified in the licence or premises approved by the Controller, in regard to which an

Control of Supplies 21

offence against this section is reasonably suspected to have been committed, may be removed by the Controller, the supplies officer or the police officer not below the rank of Inspector and if not claimed within one month of the removal, may be sold by order of the

Controller, and the proceeds of any such sale shall be paid into the

Consolidated Fund.

(5)

Any vehicle, vessel or other article, by means of which an offence has been committed under this section or which is intended to be used for the commission of the offence, may be removed by the

Controller, the supplies officer or the police officer not below the rank of Inspector and, if not claimed within one month of the removal, may be sold or disposed of by the Controller as he thinks fit, and the proceeds of such sale, if any, shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.