Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XIII — Searches, seizure and arrest
Section 101. Power to search suspected persons in certain other cases
Customs Act, 1962
Bare Act
Power to search suspected persons in certain other cases. —
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 100, if an officer of customs empowered in this behalf by general or special order of the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs, has reason to believe that any person has secreted about his person any goods of the description specified in sub-section (2) which are liable to confiscation, or documents relating thereto, he may search that person.
(2) The goods referred to in sub-section (1) are the following: -
(a) gold;
(b) diamonds;
(c) manufactures of gold or diamonds;
(d) watches;
(e) any other class of goods which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
Judgments on Section 101
- Qamar Jahan vs Union Of India, Represented By Secretary, Ministry Of Finance — Delhi High Court, 27 Mar 2025. Jewellery that is bona fide in personal use by a traveller forms part of 'personal effects' under the Baggage Rules and must not be detained routinely, and a preprinted waiver form cannot substitute for a valid oral…
- Bijan Halder And Anr. vs State Of West Bengal And Ors. — Calcutta High Court, 14 May 1993. Since offences under the Customs Act are non-cognizable (Section 104(4)) and customs officers act under independent statutory powers rather than as police investigating officers, Section 167, Cr.P.C.