KAMAL ARORA vs COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

Judgment text excerpt

$~11 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of Decision: 27th March, 2025 + W.P.(C) 3133/2025 KAMAL ARORA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Rahul Raheja and Mr. Gaurav Prakash, Advocates. versus COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS .....Respondent Through: Mr. Harpreet Singh, Senior Standing Counsel with Ms. Suhani Mathur, Mr. Jai Ahuja and Mr. Akshay Saxena, Advocates. CORAM: MS. JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH MR. JUSTICE RAJNEESH KUMAR GUPTA Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral) 1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. 2. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner - Kamal Arora under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking release of the gold bangle of the Petitioner which has been seized. 3. The Petitioner is an Indian citizen. He travelled to Bangkok on 20th April, 2024 and had arrived at the IGI Airport, New Delhi, by Flight No. CX679 on 30th April, 2024. His one gold kada weighing 76 grams was seized by the Customs Authorities and the detention receipt bearing DR No. DR/INDEL4/004303 was issued on 30th April, 2024. 4. The appraisal was also conducted, however, thereafter, no show cause Signature Not Verified Signed By:NAMITA DHYANI Signing Date:02.04.2025 18:01:09 notice has been issued to the Petitioner. A perusal of the detention receipt dated 30th April, 2024 itself shows that the detained article is a kada weighing 76 grams and this fact is not being disputed. 5. Once the goods are detained, it is mandatory to issue a show cause notice 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 Department for issuing the show cause notice. In this case, six months’ period