Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XVI — Offences and Prosecutions

Section 132.  False declaration, false documents,etc

Customs Act, 1962

Bare Act

False declaration, false documents, etc. — Whoever makes, signs or uses, or causes to be made, signed or used, any declaration, statement or document in the transaction of any business relating to the customs, knowing or having reason to believe that such declaration, statement or document is false in any material particular, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years,or with fine, or with both.

Judgments on Section 132

  • Om Prakash & Anr vs Union Of India & Anr — Supreme Court of India, 30 Sep 2011. Offences under the Customs Act, 1962 — including those punishable under Section 135 — are non-cognizable but bailable, and an arrested person who offers bail must be released under Section 104(3) of the Customs Act if…
  • P.Baskar Naidu, M/62 Years vs The Assistant Commissioner Of — Madras High Court, 15 Sep 2026. Misdeclaring an export to hide prohibited goods is punishable under Sections 132 and 135; the higher seven-year limit under Section 135 applies only to goods covered by Section 123.
  • M/S Bhagwati Products Limited vs C.C. Noida — CESTAT, 12 Dec 2025. Equity has no place in the interpretation of a fiscal statute — 'there is no room for any intendment... there is no equity about a tax...
  • Kakdiya Savitaben Dharamshi vs Chief Commissioner Of Customs Zone Ii… — CESTAT, 15 Jul 2025. A compounding application under Section 137(3) of the Customs Act may be filed at any stage — even before show cause notice or adjudication — and the Compounding Authority, being an 'adjudicating authority', must decide…
  • Kundan Care Products Ltd vs Commissioner Of Customs-New Delhi Acc… — CESTAT, 31 Jul 2024. A penalty imposed under section 112 of the Customs Act for 'contravention' of statutory provisions is not a penalization for an 'offence', since offences and penalties are distinct categories; therefore, a licensee who…
  • Ashok Kumar Goyal Manager vs Noida Customs — CESTAT, 3 Jun 2024. A retracted confessional statement is weak evidence which can at best be used as corroboration and cannot by itself sustain a penalty unless the Department establishes its voluntary character and supports it with…
  • Yamal Manojbhai vs Union Of India — Supreme Court of India, 4 May 2023. Watches being goods to which Section 123 applies, the proviso to Section 127B bars recourse to the Settlement Commission for cases involving their illicit importation, though here the Bench's divergence of opinion led…
  • Muhammed Ramsheed Thazhathethil vs State Of Kerala — Kerala High Court, 9 Sep 2026. Where the investigation is almost over, the recovery has been effected and the accused has no criminal antecedents, continued detention is not required for any purpose and regular bail should be granted on appropriate…
  • Adani Enterprises Limited And Anr vs Union Of India And Ors — Bombay High Court, 17 Oct 2019. A Letter of Rogatory under Section 166-A Cr.P.C. can be issued only in aid of an investigation validly commenced under Chapter XII of the Cr.P.C.; where the alleged customs offence is non-cognizable under Section 104(5)…
  • M. Natarajan vs State By Inspector Of Police, Spe, Cbi, Acb Chennai — Supreme Court of India, 7 May 2008. Immunity under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 is confined to offences under the direct and indirect tax enactments defined in ss.87(h) and 87(j) — including the Customs Act, 1962 — and cannot be stretched to cover…
  • J. Sekar vs Union Of India & Ors. — Delhi High Court, 11 Jan 2018. Because the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA conducts only an internal review of provisional attachment orders and does not exercise powers otherwise vested in a High Court, single-member benches of the AA and the…