Jewellery of Iran National Confiscated by Customs Dept 3 Yrs Ago: Delhi HC directs to Release Goods [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court directed the Customs Department to release the silver-coated gold chains of an Iranian national, which were confiscated on his arrival in India almost three years ago.

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Amirhossein Alizadeh, the Petitioner is the Iranian national seeking release of the goods which were detained on 7th May, 2022 vide Detention receipt bearing No. 51431 by the Customs Authorities. The Petitioner was travelling from Iran to New Delhi by flight No. W-5-0071 and was intercepted at the IGI Airport, New Delhi on the said date. The goods which were seized are as under:

“04 Silver coated metal chains of Gold weighing 255.74 grams”

After the detention, the Petitioner is stated to have made a visit to the Customs Office at the IGI Airport seeking appraisement. The appraisement was also done. However, it is alleged that an Order-in-Original is claimed to have been passed against the Petitioner without issuing a Show Cause Notice to him. As per the Petitioner, neither was the Order in Original served upon him. Accordingly, the Petitioner had filed a writ petition seeking a copy of the Order in Original. 

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A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta noted that the prescribed period of six months for issuance of a Show Cause Notice had already elapsed. The bench found that further, no personal hearing was granted to the Petitioner, who sought the release of his jewelry, and no final order was served on him till date. It was stated that after the passing of an order by the Division Bench in the earlier writ petition, the Customs department had an obligation to ensure that the order-in-original is served or intimated to the Petitioner. There has been no compliance of the direction passed by this Court. Under such circumstances, the Petitioner cannot be forced to repeatedly approach the Court even to obtain a copy of the order.

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The bench was referring to an October 2024 order whereby the High Court had directed the Department to forward to the petitioner a copy of any order that may have been passed in connection with his jewellery. The court quashed the order and held that  goods, which shall be released to the Petitioner. 

Further held that “In case the goods are disposed of, the market value of the detained goods, as per the market rate prevalent today shall be paid to the Petitioner within a period of four weeks. If the same is paid in four weeks, no interest would be payable. If the same is not paid, interest at the statutory rate would be payable from date of detention.”

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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