Tarun Arora Vs Commissioner of Customs (Delhi High Court)
The petitioner approached the Delhi High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the continued detention of a gold chain weighing 100 grams, which was seized by the Customs Department on 16 July 2023. The petitioner, an Indian passport holder, had travelled from Bangkok to New Delhi on the same day. Upon arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, he was intercepted by Customs officials, and the gold chain was seized through a detention receipt issued on 16 July 2023. A subsequent appraisal of the chain was conducted on 31 July 2023, and a second detention receipt was issued.
The petitioner is stated to have visited the Customs Department repeatedly. According to him, the officials obtained his signature on a pre-printed waiver of show cause notice (SCN) and personal hearing. The Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Terminal-3, thereafter passed an Order-in-Original (OIO) dated 12 August 2023. Entry passes dated 26 July 2023 and 18 August 2023 were placed on record to indicate that the petitioner had appeared before the authorities.
The OIO denied free allowance to the petitioner for failing to declare the goods at the red or green channel, declared him an “ineligible passenger” under Notification No. 50/2017-Customs read with the Baggage Rules, ordered absolute confiscation of the gold chain valued at ₹6,24,475, and imposed a penalty of ₹60,000 under Sections 112(a) and 112(b) of the Customs Act, 1962.
