Delhi High Court directs Customs to quantify duty on confiscated gold bars
The Delhi High Court has directed Customs authorities to quantify and communicate the applicable duty on 12 gold bars confiscated from a traveller at Indira Gandhi International Airport. A Division Bench comprising Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Vimal Kumar Yadav held that the petitioner's failure to redeem the gold within the stipulated period could not be solely attributed to him, since Customs had never quantified the duty despite his request dated 28 December 2022.
The petitioner was intercepted while travelling from Delhi to Chennai with 1200 grams of gold bars in November 2022. Customs ordered confiscation while allowing redemption upon payment of applicable duty, redemption fine and penalty of ₹50,000 each. The Court directed release of the gold bars upon payment of the applicable duty, redemption fine, penalty and interest.
