Radhika Agarwal Vs Union of India And Others (Supreme Court of India)
SC order on legality of arrests made under the Customs Act, 1962, and the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and power of arrest without prior judicial approval
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that procedural safeguards under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), must be followed in arrests made under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Customs Acts. The three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices M.M. Sundresh and Bela M. Trivedi, emphasized that anticipatory bail provisions are applicable to cases under these laws. The ruling mandates strict adherence to procedural guidelines, preventing coercion in tax-related arrests.
In its decision, the court relied on multiple precedents, including Om Prakash v. Union of India (2011), which held that Customs Act offenses were non-cognizable, and Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India (2023), which emphasized the necessity of recording reasons for arrest. The court also referred to Arvind Kejriwal v. Directorate of Enforcement (2025), reinforcing safeguards against arbitrary arrests. Importantly, the court rejected the argument that customs officers should be considered police officers, thereby clarifying the limits of their powers.
