(1) Where anything has, under any provision of excise law, been seized as liable to forfeiture, a person (referred to in this section as "the claimant") may -

(a) within one month of the date of the notice of seizure under section 142(1), or

(b) where no such notice has been given, within one month of the date of the seizure,

give notice in writing to the Commissioners of a claim (referred to in this section as a "notice of claim") that the thing seized is not so liable.

(2) A notice of claim shall specify the full name and address of the claimant and the basis on which the claim is grounded and, where that address is outside the State, any documents relating to condemnation proceedings under section 128(1) may be served at that address by post.

(3) If, on the expiration of a period referred to in subsection (1), no notice of claim has been given, the thing seized shall be deemed to have been duly condemned as forfeited, and the forfeiture shall apply from the date when the liability to forfeiture arose.

(4) Where a notice of claim has been given, the Commissioners shall, subject to subsections (2) and (3) of section 144, take court proceedings under section 128 for the condemnation of the thing concerned.