Baggage Rules and jewellery classification: gold-content Rudraksha mala treated as ornaments, making seizure unsustainable.

A foreign national carrying a Rudraksha mala with gold content was analysed under the Baggage Rules, 2016 framed under the Customs Act, 1962. Rule 3 was applied to foreign tourists entitled to duty-free clearance of bona fide baggage within prescribed limits, while Annexure-I was read as excluding gold or silver in any form other than ornaments. Because the article was worn on the person and treated as jewellery or ornaments rather than prohibited gold, seizure was not justified on that basis. Rule 5, dealing with passengers returning after more than one year abroad, was held inapplicable. The seized article and deposited amounts were therefore directed to be returned.

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Issues: Whether the seizure of the petitioner's gold-content Rudraksha mala was justified under the Baggage Rules, 2016 and whether the seized article and deposited amounts were liable to be returned.

Analysis: The petitioner was a Sri Lankan citizen and therefore a foreign national. On that basis, there was no requirement to establish Indian origin. The applicable framework was the Baggage Rules, 2016, framed under Section 79 of the Customs Act, 1962. Under Rule 3, a tourist of foreign origin is entitled to clearance free of duty for bona fide baggage within the prescribed limits, and Annexure-I excludes gold or silver in any form other than ornaments. The seized article, being a Rudraksha mala with gold content and worn on the person, fell within the category of jewellery and ornaments rather than prohibited gold in any form other than ornaments. Rule 5, which concerns passengers returning after residing abroad for more than one year, was inapplicable.

Conclusion: The seizure could not be sustained under the Baggage Rules, 2016, and the petitioner was entitled to return of the seized article and refund of the amounts deposited.

Ratio Decidendi: For a foreign national carrying jewellery or ornaments on the person, seizure cannot be justified by treating such articles as prohibited gold under the baggage restrictions unless the governing rules expressly exclude the article.

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