W.P.(C) 9065/2025 $~45 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 9065/2025 RAVI KUMAR .....Petitioner Through: Mr. S. Vijay Kanth & Mr. Utkarsh Tripathi, Advs. versus THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS .....Respondent Through: Mr. Avijit Dikshit, Standing Counsel. CORAM: JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUSTICE RAJNEESH KUMAR GUPTA O R D E R % 04.07.2025 1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. 2. The present petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the continued detention of two gold chains totally weighing 150 grams. 3. The brief background of this case is that the Petitioner had arrived at Terminal 3 of IGI Airport in New Delhi from Dubai on 31st August, 2023. Upon his arrival the officials from Respondent - Customs Department had intercepted the Petitioner and seized/detained the said gold chains vide Detention Receipt bearing reference no. DR/INDEL4/31-08-2023/002563 dated 31st August, 2023. Despite the detention having taken place on in the month of August, 2023, till date, no Show Cause Notice (hereinafter ‘SCN’) has been issued. It is the settled position of law that under Sections 110 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act (hereinafter ‘CGST Act’), the SCN has to be issued within a period of six months or within the extended period of six This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/07/2025 at 11:46:37 W.P.(C) 9065/2025 months after intimating the Petitioner. Neither conditions have been complied with in this particular case. 4. This Court in a number of cases including W.P.(C) 2760/2025 titled ‘Mohammad Arham v. Commissioner Of Customs’ has held that detention of goods is impermissible if the SCN has not been issued within the prescribed period of 1 year. The relevant portion of the decision dated 19th March, 2025 in Mohammad Arham (Supra) is extracted below: “5. Issue notice. Mr. Harpreet Singh, ld. Senior Standing Counsel for Respondent accepts notice. He submits, on instructions, that admittedly, no show cause notice has been issued upon the Petitioner within the stipulated time period of six months of seizure of goods. Moreover, there has been no appraisement of the goods either. 6. Once the goods are detained, it is mandatory to issue a show cause notice and afford a hearing to the Petitioner. The time prescribed under Section 110 of The Customs Act, 1962, is a period of six months and subject to complying with the formalities, a further extension for a period of six months can be taken by the Department for issuing the show cause notice. In this case, the one year period itself has elapsed, thus no show cause notice can be issued. The detention is therefore impermissible. 7. Accordingly, let the goods be appraised by the Respondent department on their own and the same be released, subject to verification, within four weeks to the Petitioner. Since the Petitioner has now attained majority, the appraisement shall be done either in the presence of the Petitioner or an Authorized Representative. 8. The storage/warehouse charges are waived off in this case.” 5. Considering that no SCN has been issued in the present case, the continued detention of the subject goods would be illegal. Accordingly, the detention of the said goods is quashed. The two gold chains are directed to be This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/07/2025 at 11:46:37 W.P.(C) 9065/2025 released in favour of the Petitioner within a period of four weeks. 6. For the said purpose, an Authorized Representative of the Petitioner shall appear before the Customs Authorities on 28th July, 2025. Since these are only two gold chains which have been held up for two years, no warehousing charges shall be payable in this case. 7. If the Customs Department wishes to appraise the same, they may do so. 8. Petition is disposed of in these terms. All pending applications, if any, are also disposed of. PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J. RAJNEESH KUMAR GUPTA, J. JULY 4, 2025 Rahul/Ar. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 09/07/2025 at 11:46:37