Gold Smuggling Penalty on 19-Year-Old Taekwondo Player :Delhi HC Sets Aside ₹2 Lakh Fine Citing Age and Coach’s Influence [Read Order]
While penalties were imposed on the coach and team members, the Court observed that the young player carried the items only at the coach’s insistence and could not have easily refused.
Gold - smuggling - Taxscan
Gold - smuggling - Taxscan
The High Court of Delhi, sets aside a ₹2 lakh gold smuggling penalty on a 19-year-old national-level taekwondo player, citing his age and the influence of his coach.
Vivek Kumar Singh,petitioner-assessee,filed a petition against the order dated 31st March, 2025, issued by the Commissioner of Customs (Delhi Airport), which denied free allowance and declared him and other team members ineligible under Notification No. 50/2017-Cus and the Baggage Rules, 2016.
The petitioner, a 19-year-old national-level taekwondo player, had traveled with his coach, Mr. Satwinder Singh, and 12 teammates to Bangkok for the ‘Buriram Taekwondo International Championship 2022’ in the 54 kg category. On their return, the coach gave the team members a gold chain and a silver-coated ring, which were seized on 1st September, 2022, totaling 14 chains (600 grams) and 4 rings (67 grams), valued at ₹28,81,258.
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The order imposed confiscation of the seized items, a ₹5,00,000 penalty on the coach for smuggling gold using minors, and ₹2,00,000 penalties on each of the other team members for acts of omission and commission.
The petitioner submitted that the ₹2,00,000 penalty imposed on him could leave a lasting stigma.
Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Shail Jain observed that the involvement of a national-level taekwondo team and its coach in smuggling gold was unacceptable if the allegations were true. It noted that the coach, Mr. Satwinder Singh, had admitted in his statement under Section 108 that he had handed over gold chains to the players, including the petitioner.
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A notice was issued to the coach, and when he appeared before the Court with his counsel, he tendered an apology to the petitioner, which was accepted. The Court held that the petitioner, being a young player, carried the gold items only at his coach’s insistence and could not have easily refused.
Considering his age and circumstances, the Court gave him the benefit of doubt and set aside the penalty imposed on him under the order dated 31st March, 2025. It further clarified that the penalty would not stigmatise the petitioner or affect his future career prospects, and disposed of the petition along with pending applications.
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