Immediate Steps to Take When Your Gold is Seized by Customs at Delhi Airport: Legal Advice by Customs Violation Lawyer at Delhi Airport for a Gold Smuggling Case
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Seizure of gold by the Customs authorities at Delhi Airport involves the compliance of lengthy formalities, but once seized, it becomes a very difficult task to make the authorities believe that they are innocent and their gold be released. The seizure of gold can land its owner or possessor in the charges of gold smuggling, which in itself is a big burden to take off. Thus, as soon as the gold is seized, the person shall take immediate and informed actions to safeguard its interest and gold.
Following is discussed a detailed guide based on the provisions of the Customs Act of 1962 which could navigate and streamline the steps to take in such situations:
• Seizure of goods under the Customs Act by the Customs authorities is mostly covered under Section 110 of the Act, which talks about seizure of goods, documents, and things. Under this legal provision, any proper officer, upon believing that the goods, including gold, are to be confiscated, can do so and seize such gold. But during the seizure, the person from whom the gold is seized has to keep in mind that once the gold is seized by the authorities, then under six months he shall be furnished with a notice of the seizure of the gold. This period of notice can be further extended to another six months in certain situations. But once this period is lapsed and no notice is furnished to him, he can claim back his gold as a right, and the authorities have to return the seized gold back to the person from whom it was seized.
• Once the goods are seized under Section 110 of the said Act, Section 110-A of this same Act provides a relief to such person from whom the gold is seized that he may apply for a provisional release of his gold during the time the order of adjudicating authority is pending. Thus, the person shall take advantage of this opportunity and engage a legal expert who would file an application for the same for him and aid him in availing of this relief. A bond has to be provided along with a deposit of some security, which the person shall deposit timely and ensure that the necessary conditions are complied with so as to claim the gold back for the time being.
• The Customs authorities have a right to stop any vehicle, aircraft, or animal in India by all lawful means, as per Section 106 of the said Act, upon whom they have a suspicion that such vehicle, aircraft, or animal is being used to smuggle gold. After that, the proper officers can search such conveyances by their means. Now, if during this search the officers find and seize any gold from such conveyance, the person from whom it was seized has to ensure that while this search and seizure was made, all the protocols as prescribed by this provision were being followed. If such a person successfully challenges the validity of the protocols of search, he may be able to successfully recover his seized gold from the officers.
• A very crucial step for the person from whom the gold is seized is to ensure that before the seizure of the gold occurs, he be provided with a show cause notice mentioning the grounds on which the gold is being seized as per Section 124 of the said Act. No gold can be seized before issuing this notice to the owner or possessor of the gold. In the absence of this notice, such person can deny the seizure of the gold. However, when provided the notice, the person should carefully go through the notice and read the grounds as to whether they are valid or not. Along with this, the person must be provided with a reasonable time to revert back to the grounds mentioned in that notice and be provided an opportunity of being heard explaining why his gold shall not be seized, and for this, the person shall prepare a draft containing a comprehensive reply to the grounds of that notice, which shall be done by a legal professional in this field.
• As per Section 112 of the said Act, wherever under this Act there is a situation where any goods, including gold, are liable to be confiscated, then such confiscation shall be adjudged by a prescribed authority. This is a crucial moment, and the person from whom the gold is seized has to be very well prepared for this adjudication. For this, the person shall gather all the relevant and necessary documents, including bills, receipts, invoices, permission letter, purchase or sale memo, declaration forms, and any correspondence with customs. This is done to ensure that the person presents a strong case during the adjudication process.
• If the order of adjudication does not come in the favour of the person from whom the gold was seized, such person shall without any delay file an appeal to the concerned authority. This Act provides different authorities to appeal, and the person shall avail every possible opportunity to appeal to whatever authority he can. Under Section 128 of the said Act, the aggrieved person can appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals). After this, the aggrieved can appeal under Section 129-A of the Act to the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). Then, he can approach the Central Government for the revision of the above authorities orders under Section 129-DD of the Act. Then, aggrieved from such a decision, the person can approach the concerned High Court under Section 130 of the Act, and as the last resort, the aggrieved person can approach the Supreme Court of India under Section 130-E of this Act.
• Dealing with all these procedures is not an easy task for a common man; thus, such person shall engage a legal professional who would aid him in every possible manner. Section 146-A of the said Act provides an opportunity to such person to appear through a legal practitioner in certain situations as his authorised representative. Apart from these appearances, such a practitioner will guide him throughout this process of seizure, from filing a reply to the show cause notice to ensuring correct filing of the documents to representing him in the litigation and adjudication processes.
In the case of Pushpak Lakhani v. Principal Commissioner, Customs (2022), the Principal Commissioner rejected the application of the petitioner for releasing the goods, stating that the goods fall in the category of “prohibited goods”. An appeal was made against this order, and then the CESTAT reversed this order in its judgement and held that just because some goods are classified as “prohibited”, it does not mean they cannot be released provisionally. Thus, the seized goods were ordered to be released as it is the discretionary power of court to provisionally release the goods as per Section 110-A of the Customs Act, 1962.
In conclusion, it would be enough to say that by proper understanding and acting swiftly under the relevant provisions of the Act, the person can tackle the hurdles of seizure and take such steps which led to the successful recovery of his seized gold by protecting his interests.
Authored By: Adv. Anant Sharma & Sahil Arora
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