Wrongfully Seizure of NRI’s Personal Belongings by Customs Dept: Delhi HC allows to Avail Baggage Rule Benefits [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court has held that the non-resident Indian (NRI) is fully entitled to the benefit provided to an eligible passenger under the Baggage Rules, 2016. Since the customs department had wrongfully seized NRI’s personal belongings, the court allowed them to avail of Baggage Rule benefits.

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The petitioner/assessee, Amal Krishna, was on her way to India from the United Arab Emirates (the "UAE") to take part in a marriage ceremony in Kerala. On April 9, 2024, the petitioner landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport. However, the petitioner was stopped as soon as he arrived at the airport, and the concerned customs authorities confiscated the petitioner's jewelry, which was a 28-gram gold chain.

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He was wearing the jewelry for personal use when it was seized by customs officials as he was crossing the green channel. The petitioner gave a statement to the relevant customs agents and then issued a letter outlining the jewelry items that were detained and emphasizing that, in accordance with the 2016 Baggage Rules, the petitioner is an eligible passenger. Nevertheless, the adjudicating body issued the ruling by confiscating the petitioner's jewelry.

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According to the order, the passenger is qualified under the Baggage Rules, 2016 (as modified) and Notification No. 50/2017-Customs dated June 30, 2017 (as amended). By paying a fee of Rs. 25,000 and an extra penalty of Rs. 18,000, the petitioner is allowed to redeem the gold chain. Additionally, warehousing fees of Rs. 250/-per day are being collected for the gold.

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The court ruled that the confiscation of gold goods would not apply if they were personal jewellery. The court ruled that the adjudicating authority's order was revoked. The petitioner will not be subject to any penalties or redemption fines. It will also not be possible to recover any warehousing fees from the petitioner. The petitioner will receive a refund for any fees that have already been paid.

According to the division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, the gold chain is personal property of the petitioner, an NRI, and hence could not have been confiscated in the way that the Customs department has. The court ordered that the petitioner's gold item that had been confiscated by customs officers could be returned to the petitioner or any designated representative within two weeks of their identity being confirmed.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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