Case Details: Agya Singh vs. Commissioner of Customs (2026) 39 Centax 306 (Del.)
Judiciary and Counsel Details
- Prathibha M. Singh & Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, JJ.
- S/Shri Parminder Singh Sandhu, Mayank Ahuja, Pradeep Chaurasia & Abhishek Sharma, Advs., for the Petitioner.
- Shri Avijit Dikshit, Adv., for the Respondent.
Facts of the Case
The petitioner, an air passenger, arrived in India from Bangkok on 11-11-2022. At the time of arrival at IGI Airport, New Delhi, a gold chain weighing 115 grams worn by him was detained by the Customs Department and a detention receipt was issued. However, no appraisal of the jewellery was carried out and no show cause notice was issued to the petitioner even after the lapse of the statutory period prescribed under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962. Aggrieved by the continued detention of the jewellery, the petitioner filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court seeking release of the detained gold chain.
High Court Held
The Delhi High Court held that once goods are detained, the Customs Department is required to issue a show cause notice within the statutory period of six months, extendable by another six months, under Section 110 of the Customs Act. In the present case, even after the lapse of one year from the date of detention, no show cause notice had been issued, rendering the continued detention impermissible. The Court further observed that used jewellery worn by a passenger falls within the ambit of personal effects under the Baggage Rules, 2016 and cannot ordinarily be detained by the Customs authorities. Accordingly, the detention of the gold chain was held to be unsustainable and the Customs Department was directed to release the jewellery to the petitioner without insisting on any warehousing charges. The petition was therefore disposed of in favour of the passenger.
List of Cases Cited
- Directorate of Revenue Intelligence v. Pushpa Lekhumal Tolani — 2017 (353) E.L.T. 129 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 9]
- Makhinder Chopra v. Commissioner — 2025 (394) E.L.T. 391 (Del.) = (2025) 32 Centax 50 (Del.) — Relied on [Para 12]
- Saba Simran v. Union of India — 2025 (394) E.L.T. 403 (Del.) = (2025) 27 Centax 34 (Del.) — Relied on [Para 10]
- Union of India v. Saba Simran — 2025 (394) E.L.T. 27 (S.C.) = (2025) 32 Centax 132 (S.C.) — Relied on [Para 11]
