The Delhi High Court has held that the non-appearance for appraisement would not extend the time for issuance of the show cause notice (SCN) under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Shail Jain has observed that one of the reasons being taken by the Customs Department for explaining delay or non issuance of SCN is that the Petitioner does not appear for appraisement. It is made clear that non appearance of a passenger for appraisement of detained goods is not a ground for withholding the issuance of an SCN in terms of Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962.
The petitioner sought the release of the seized goods, one gold chain weighing 50 grams and two iPhones 14 Pro Max of the Petitioner seized by the Customs Department. The case of the Petitioner is that he had travelled to India. Upon arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, the seized goods which were in the possession of the Petitioner were seized by the Customs Department. The goods were also appraised.
The grievance of the Petitioner is that no Show Cause Notice has been issued till date. The Customs Department today submits that the Petitioner did not appear for appraisement, hence, the SCN was not issued.
Once the goods are detained, it is mandatory to issue a SCN and afford a hearing to the Petitioner. The time prescribed under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962, is a period of six months and subject to complying with the formalities, a further extension for a period of six months can be taken by the Customs Department for issuing the SCN. In this case, the one year period itself has elapsed, thus no SCN can be issued at this stage. The detention is therefore impermissible.
The court directed that the gold chain shall be released without payment of any customs duty, fine or penalty. Insofar as two iPhones are concerned, let the applicable customs duty be paid by the Petitioner.
The court stated that warehousing charges for iPhones shall be paid as per the charges applicable on the date of detention. However, the warehousing charges qua the gold chain are waived.
Case Details
Case Title: Mohammad Rashid Versus Commissioner Of Customs
Case No.: W.P.(C) 6388/2025
Date: 10th September, 2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Dr. Ashutosh
Counsel For Respondent: Aditya Singla
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