Customs Act, 1962 › Chapter XIII — Searches, seizure and arrest
Section 100. Power to search suspected persons entering or leaving India etc
Customs Act, 1962
Bare Act
Power to search suspected persons entering or leaving India, etc. —
(1) If the proper officer has reason to believe that any person to whom this section applies has secreted about his person, any goods liable to confiscation or any documents relating thereto, he may search that person.
(2)This section applies to the following persons, namely: -
(a) any person who has landed from or is about to board, or is on board any vessel within the Indian customs waters;
(b) any person who has landed from or is about to board, or is on board a foreign-going aircraft;
(c) any person who has got out of, or is about to get into, or is in, a vehicle, which has arrived from, or is to proceed to any place outside India;
(d) any person not included in clauses (a), (b) or (c) who has entered or is about to leave India;
(e) any person in a customs area.
Judgments on Section 100
- Mundhra Exim Pvt Ltd Represented By Its Director Mr Ashish Mundhra And Others Vs Union Of India vs Union Of India — Madhya Pradesh High Court, 21 Apr 2025. Provisional attachment of bank accounts under Section 110(5) of the Customs Act, 1962 can be imposed only during the pendency of proceedings under Sections 28, 28AAA or 28B — that is, after issuance of a Show Cause…
- 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.