Dr Raj to get back some sex toys

SEXOLOGIST Dr Raj Ramnanan will get back a box of sex toys seized by the Customs Division in August 2017.

The order to return the items was given by Justice Ricky Rahim who, on Friday, declared that the continuing failure of the Comptroller of Customs to institute forfeiture proceedings for the box was unlawful.

However, Ramnanan was not successful in obtaining the same orders for two additional boxes of sex toys also seized in November 2017, since, according to the judge, he failed to prove he gave notice of claim to the comptroller, as provided for in the legislation. He will, however, get back items in the two boxes that are not deemed to be obscene.

The judge also said the issue of whether the seized goods were obscene under the Customs Act was for a magistrate to consider.

Although the three boxes were seized in 2017, forfeiture and condemnation proceedings against Ramnanan were instituted in June. This will affect only the second shipment of two boxes of sex toys, since the judge declared that the comptroller's failure to institute proceedings within a reasonable time was ultra vires and in direct conflict with the policy of the Customs Act.

Rahim also held that the failure to institute the proceedings in relation to the first shipment of one box was in breach of natural justice and Ramnanan’s right to protection of the law, as it affected his right to be heard on the seizure of the goods.

Ramnanan’s lawyers Jagdeo Singh, Kiel Taklalsingh, Dinesh Rambally and Karina Singh had argued that the comptroller should have started forfeiture proceedings within a reasonable time.

According to Ramnanan’s case, three boxes of sex toys were seized between August to November 2017.

In August last year, the local courier company Websource, sent clients a list of items it said were prohibited by Customs. Among them were adult novelty goods. Websource warned its customers that goods would be confiscated if imported, even if the items were intended for personal use.

This caused an outcry on social media, but Finance Minister Colm Imbert said he had “absolutely no idea” about a ban on the importation of adult sex toys, since, according to the law, there was no such thing as an adult toy. He said section 45 (L) of the Customs Act prohibited the importation of indecent or obscene items.

Imbert also said it was up to the Customs and Excise Division and the courts to determine what exactly are indecent or obscene items.

Also before Rahim is a separate claim by an e-commerce consultant who sued the comptroller after a sex doll he tried to import was seized by customs officials in December.

The consultant said he imported the plastic mannequin on December 28, and when it arrived in TT, he was told it was being detained as it was considered to be in breach of section 45 (1) (L) of the Customs Act Chapter 78:01.

His lawsuit intends to challenge the decision by the comptroller to classify items like the mannequin “as obscene and/ or indecent and therefore prohibited,” and that the continued detention of the item is unlawful.