Amit Kumar Vs Commissioner of Customs (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court Orders Customs To Release Traveler’s Gold Worth 20 lakh, iPhone, Play station & More Over Failure To Issue SCN
Delhi High Court in its recent decision dated 06.02.2025 pronounced in the case of Amit Kumar v. The Commissioner of Customs, W.P.(C) 15973/2024, directs the customs department to release detained without issuing SCN by holding that printed waiver of SCN cannot be considered to be an oral SCN.
The case of Amit Kumar v. The Commissioner of Customs (W.P.(C) 15973/2024) was heard by the Delhi High Court on February 6, 2025. The petitioner, Amit Kumar, filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking the release of goods detained by the Customs Department under Section 110(2) of the Customs Act, 1962. He contended that no Show Cause Notice (SCN) had been issued within the prescribed six-month period, rendering the continued detention of the goods unlawful. The petitioner also sought a direction to the Commissioner of Customs to bear the storage charges for the detained goods held at the Central Warehousing Corporation, IGI Airport.
The case stemmed from an incident on March 3, 2024, when Amit Kumar arrived at IGI Airport, New Delhi, from Dubai, traveling with his wife. While crossing through the Green Channel, he was intercepted by Customs officials, who detained several high-value items in his possession. The seized goods included a gold chain, a three-layered gold chain with black beads and a pendant, four cut pieces of a gold bar, a Sony PlayStation 5, a Versace Ladies Cosmetic Set, a Meta Quest-3 gaming device, a Xerjoff-K Jabir Perfume, and an iPhone 15 Pro (256 GB). A detention receipt (DR No. 3927) was issued on the same day.
