Introduction - INSPECTION, SEARCH & SEIZURE

Inspection of consignments during transit allows verification and digital reporting to ensure accountability and enable detention where documentation is lacking.

The GST framework treats search as an authorised examination to locate concealed goods or evidence and seizure as taking possession by an officer; searches and seizures require Joint Commissioner level authorisation when goods liable to confiscation or relevant records are suspected to be concealed, must follow Criminal Procedure Code safeguards with independent witnesses and contemporaneous records, and include inventory, rights to copies of seized records, provisional release on bond or security, return rules if not relied upon within thirty days of a show cause notice, and a six month notice requirement for seized goods subject to one extension by the Commissioner.