https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=449232 A writ petition under Article 226 seeking pre-arrest protection against summons issued under Section 108 of the Customs Act is maintainable in principle, but the court will exercise that extraordinary jurisdiction sparingly. Customs officers have statutory arrest powers that must be exercised on objective grounds, and Section 438 CrPC is not an automatic remedy where arrest may follow departmental proceedings. The discussion also notes the distinction between maintainability and entitlement to relief, and that courts should not ordinarily pre-empt lawful departmental action absent compelling circumstances. On these principles, the petition was declined and the authorities were directed to proceed in accordance with law. en-us Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:58:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=449232 A writ petition under Article 226 seeking pre-arrest protection against summons issued under Section 108 of the Customs Act is maintainable in principle, but the court will exercise that extraordinary jurisdiction sparingly. Customs officers have statutory arrest powers that must be exercised on objective grounds, and Section 438 CrPC is not an automatic remedy where arrest may follow departmental proceedings. The discussion also notes the distinction between maintainability and entitlement to relief, and that courts should not ordinarily pre-empt lawful departmental action absent compelling circumstances. On these principles, the petition was declined and the authorities were directed to proceed in accordance with law. Case-Laws Customs Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=449232