PRIYA LUTHRA vs THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

Judgment text excerpt

$~73 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of Decision: 27th March, 2025 + W.P.(C) 3215/2025 PRIYA LUTHRA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. S. Vijay Kanth, Mr. Utkarsh Tripathi, Adv. versus THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS .....Respondent Through: Mr. Harpreet Singh, Sr. SC with Ms. Suhani Mathur, Mr. Jai Ahuja and Mr. Akshay Saxena, Advs. Mr. Gibran Naushad, SSC with Mr. Harsh Singhal, Adv. CORAM: JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH 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 – Priya Luthra under Article 226 of the Constitution of India inter alia challenging the detention of the gold kada belonging to the Petitioner by the Custom Authorities. 3. According to the Petitioner, she was travelling from Melbourne, Australia to New Delhi. On 14th April, 2024, the Petitioner arrived at Terminal-3 of IGI Airport, New Delhi, wherein she was intercepted by the concerned officials of the Customs Department. The said officials then seized a gold kada weighing 62 grams from the Petitioner and issued a Detention Signature Not Verified Signed By:DEVANSHU JOSHI Signing Date:01.04.2025 W.P.(C) 3215/2025 Page 1 of 2 18:40:11 Receipt bearing no. 4198 dated 14th April 2024. 4. The challenge raised in this petition is that no show cause notice has been issued till date. 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, the period has elapsed, thus no show