887g Gold in Paste Form Recovered from Passenger's Body: Delhi HC Permits Appeal Against Absolute Confiscation Order [Read Order]

The High Court of Delhi has permitted the petitioner to challenge it through the statutory appeal mechanism while disposing of a writ petition concerning the seizure and confiscation of gold recovered from a passenger, after the customs authorities produced the adjudication order directing absolute confiscation.

The petitioner, Chesam Yasin, invoked Article 226 of the Constitution of India to challenge the detention receipt dated 19.07.2022 issued following the seizure of gold from his person. He had travelled to Delhi from Imphal, where customs officers conducted a personal examination and recovered three capsules of gold in paste form from his body, weighing 1070.6 grams. After refining, the gold yielded approximately 887 grams assessed at ₹38,83,747.

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Represented by Pramod Kant Saxena, the petitioner contended that he had been deprived of procedural fairness as he was not served with the Order-in-Original and therefore remained unaware of the adjudicating authority’s decision. Further, submitted that the detention receipt and the consequential proceedings required judicial intervention, particularly because the gold was seized from his body and the petitioner was entitled to assert his rights before any final decision affected him.

Appearing for the Customs Department, Anushree Narain and Naman Choula, submitted that the Show Cause Notice had already been served and the matter concluded with the Order-in-Original dated 24.10.2024. The respondents placed the order on record through an affidavit. The order recorded the extraction of 1070.6 grams of gold in paste form from the petitioner’s body and directed absolute confiscation of 887 grams of refined gold under Section 111(d), Section 111(i), Section 111(j), Section 111(l), Section 111(m) and Section 111(o) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Penalties were also imposed under Section 112(a), Section 112(b) and Section 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962. It was argued that the petitioner had a clear statutory appellate route and that the writ petition did not warrant further adjudication.

The Bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Renu Bhatnagar observed that since the Order-in-Original had already been passed and placed on record, the writ petition required no further directions. A copy of the affidavit and the Order-in-Original was directed to be furnished to the petitioner to ensure that he could exercise his right to appeal.

The Court held that once adjudication under the Customs Act, 1962 has concluded and penalties as well as confiscation have been ordered, the proper course for the petitioner is to approach the appellate authority under the statutory scheme.

On this reasoning, the Bench granted two months’ time for the petitioner to file an appeal against the Order-in-Original dated 24.10.2024. The writ petition and all pending applications were accordingly disposed of.

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