Legal principle

A High Court will ordinarily decline to entertain a writ petition challenging a concluded Customs adjudication where the statutory appeal under Section 128 is available and has not been availed, and the petitioner approaches after unexplained delay and laches, the alternative remedy rule being a well-recognised governing principle though not an absolute bar.

Court decision

The writ petition was dismissed. The Court declined to exercise its Article 226 jurisdiction to examine, for the first time, the validity of the Order-in-Original dated 07.06.2023, in view of the available statutory appeal under Section 128 and the Petitioner's unexplained delay and laches, and expressly expressed no opinion on the merits, including the Sections 110(2) and 124 contentions, the alleged waiver, the statement dated 06.12.2020, the Green Channel violation, and the confiscation and penalty.

Facts

The Petitioner, an Indian citizen, arrived at IGI Airport, New Delhi on 06.12.2020 from Riyadh and, after crossing the Green Channel, was intercepted by Customs, who recovered a 116-gram 'Suisse' brand gold bar from his possession; it was detained vide Detention Receipt No. 16583 dated 06.12.2020. A Section 108 statement was recorded the same day in which he admitted attempting to clear the bar through the Green Channel without declaration or duty and stated he did not require a show cause notice. A public notice called on concerned passengers to approach Customs within two weeks regarding detained/seized goods, which the Petitioner ignored. Adjudication culminated in a common Order-in-Original dated 07.06.2023 absolutely confiscating the gold bar under Section 111 and imposing penalties under Sections 112(a), 112(b) and 114AA. The Petitioner filed a writ petition only in 2025, claiming he was never served any show cause notice or hearing notice and seeking release of the gold bar and waiver of detention/warehouse charges.

Key provisions

• Section 124, Customs Act, 1962 — Issue of show cause notice before confiscation of goods etc
• Section 128, Customs Act, 1962 — Appeal to Commissioner (Appeals)
• Section 110(2), Customs Act, 1962 — Seizure of goods, documents and things