Delhi High Court Directs Customs to Release Personal Jewellery of Minor From UAE Held At IGI Airport
Delhi High Court Directs Customs to Release Personal Jewellery of Minor From UAE Held At IGI Airport
The Delhi High Court has directed customs to release personal jewellery of minors from UAE held at IGI airport.
The bench Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta has observed that the gold items of the Petitioner seized by the Custom officials in the present case, may be released within two weeks to the Petitioner or any authorised representative, after verifying their identity.
The petitioner/assessee is a minor aged about 17 years, who was travelling with her family from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Delhi. The Petitioner along with her family, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi on 9th April, 2024.
The family was travelling to India to participate in a relative’s wedding which was to be held in Kerala on 21stApril, 2024. On 9th April, 2024 as soon as the Petitioner reached the airport with her family, her jewellery, which she was carrying in person i.e. two gold chains with pendants, weighing a total of 49 grams, was detained by the Custom authorities.
The jewellery has been worn by her since her childhood days and the same was confiscated by the Custom authorities while the family was crossing the green channel. Appraisal was sought by the Petitioner’s father on 22nd May, 2024 and he also agreed for re- exporting the gold items.
The Petitioner’s father submitted a statement to the concerned Custom officials and thereafter sent a letter providing details of the detained jewellery items as also highlighting that the Petitioner is an eligible passenger under the Baggage Rules, 2016. However, the adjudicating authority passed the order by seizing the jewellery of the Petitioner.
The order held that the passenger is an eligible passenger in terms of the Notification No. 50/2017-Customs dated 30th June, 2017 (as amended) read with Baggage Rules, 2016 (as amended). The Petitioner is free to redeem both the chains by paying a fine of Rs. 40,000 and incurring an additional penalty of Rs. 32,000. In addition, Rs. 250 per day is being sought as warehousing charges for the two chains.
The Petitioner submits that these are small gold chains which the Petitioner used to wear since childhood and the same ought to be returned to the Petitioner. They are her personal effects.
A photograph of the Petitioner wearing the said jewellery as a child has also been placed on record. The wedding card showing the date of marriage on 21st April, 2024 has also been placed on record. A perusal of the photographs along with the wedding card would itself show that she is a bona fide passenger who was travelling to India to attend a wedding ceremony.
It is not in dispute as has been recorded by the adjudicating authority that the Petitioner herself is a UAE resident with a proper resident ID. The two gold chains have been valued at Rs. 3,15,795.
The Petitioner being a non-resident is fully entitled to the benefit provided to an eligible passenger under the Baggage Rules, 2016. The goods constitute personal effects of the Petitioner and could not have been seized in the manner the Custom authorities have.
The court while directing the release held that no penalty or redemption fine shall be collected from the Petitioner. No warehousing charges shall also be liable to be collected from the Petitioner. The charges, if any, already deposited shall be refunded to the Petitioner. The gold items of the Petitioner seized by the Custom officials in the present case, may be released within two weeks to the Petitioner or any authorised representative, after verifying their identity.
Case Details
Case Title: Gopika Vennankot Govind Versus Union Of India
Case No.: W.P.(C) 2784/2025, CM APPL. 13194/2025 & CM APPL. 3195/2025
Date: 10th March, 2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Kavitha K.T., Subash Chandran, Sharat Gopal, Syam Krishnan K., Akash Awana, Minal Pandagare and Shakki Chaturvedi
Counsel For Respondent: Anushree Narain, Ankit Kumar
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Mariya is the Senior Editor at JurisHour. She has 5+ years of experience on covering tax litigation stories from the Supreme Court, High Courts and various tribunals including CESTAT, ITAT, NCLAT, NCLT, etc. Mariya graduated from MLSU Law College, Udaipur (Raj.) with B.A.LL.B. and also holds an LL.M. She started as a freelance tax reporter in the leading online legal news companies like LiveLaw & Taxscan.
