The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Customs Department for illegally detaining gold jewellery from Dwarka resident Priyanka Sehgal, and directed it to give effect to the appellate authority’s order stating that law or baggage rules do not have any bar on the import on carrying of Jewellery in Pure form. Moreover Purity if 992 and 921 cannot be said to be the purest form of Gold.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Anish Dayal observed that the Petitioner was not given an SCN and no personal hearing was granted which is mandatory in terms of Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962.
“This Court has held repeatedly that standard pre-printed waivers of Show Cause Notice and personal hearing would not be valid in law,” the remarked.
The Petitioner, who is a resident of Dwarka, Delhi, was travelling with her husband and infant child from Dubai on 29th February, 2024. She was wearing two gold items, i.e., one gold chain and two gold bangles. Upon arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, the Petitioner was intercepted by the concerned officials of the Customs Department and the gold items were seized by the Customs Department after issuing a detention receipt.
The Petitioner was forced to sign a waiver of Show Cause Notice (SCN) and no personal hearing was granted by the Adjudicating Authority. The Order-in-Original granted the Petitioner the option to redeem the goods subject to a fine of Rs. 2,45,000 and penalty of Rs.1,65,000.
The Order-in-Original was challenged by the Customs Department wherein the Appellate Authority has dismissed the said appeal on 26th May, 2025. Moreover, as per the Order-in-Original, the gold items of the Petitioner were not of the purest form.
The customs department submits that the Customs Department is contemplating to file a revision under Section 129DD of the Customs Act, 1962.
The court noted that the Customs Department did not appear before the Appellate Authority. However, the Petitioner had appeared before the Appellate Authority.
The court stated that the three-month period for filing of the revision has already lapsed. In order to file a revision now, sufficient cause has to be shown by the Customs Department. Since there is no proceeding pending as on date staying the implementation of the Order in Original merely because the Department may be contemplating filing of a Revision Petition, it would not mean that the order cannot be given effect to. The Petitioner ought to be given the benefit of the Order-in-Original which has been passed in her favour and has also been upheld by the Appellate authority.
The court waived complete warehousing charges.
Case Details
Case Title: Priyanka Sehgal Versus Commissioner Of Customs
Case No.: W.P.(C) 13460/2025
Date: 2nd September, 2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Ashish Panday
Counsel For Respondent: Akshay Amritanshu
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