Delhi HC orders release of seized gold jewellery; imposes duty, warehousing charges and Rs 10,000 costs
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the release of two gold ornaments seized from two Delhi-based travellers, while requiring the petitioners to pay the full applicable customs duty as well as all warehousing charges calculated from the date of seizure.
Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Renu Bhatnagar imposed costs of Rs. 10,000 each on the petitioners for having “given an impression” that the jewellery was old, despite it being “absolutely brand new”.
The petitioners claimed that the 200 grams of gold jewellery — a chain and a kada — seized at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in February 2023 were old ornaments worn by them during their travel from Dubai. However, after directing production of the items, the Delhi High Court observed that the claim was false.
“Upon a perusal of the gold items, it is clear that the gold items are not used gold jewellery of the Petitioners, and the same are absolutely brand new jewellery,” the Justice Singh-led Bench noted.
Further, it noted that the Customs Department failed to issue a show-cause notice (SCN) within the statutory time period under Section 110 of the Customs Act.
“In this case, the one-year period itself has elapsed, thus no SCN can be issued at this stage. The continued detention of seized gold items is, therefore, impermissible and the same are liable to be released to the petitioners,” held the Delhi High Court.
While directing release, the Justice Singh-led Bench imposed two conditions: first, payment of full applicable customs duty and second, “full warehousing charges as applicable on the date of detention.”
The petitioners, or their authorised representatives, have been ordered to appear before Customs authorities on December 23. The Delhi High Court further directed that the designated nodal officer, Superintendent Mukesh Gulia, “shall facilitate the petitioners’ appearance before the competent authority”.
“The deposit shall be made by 15th December, 2025, and the proof of deposit shall be produced before the Customs Authority on 23rd December, 2025, subject to which the release shall be effected. The Petitioner shall contact the nodal officer for the same,” ordered the Justice Singh-led Bench, disposing of the petitions.