TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
Guidelines for Arrest and Bail in relation to offences punishable under Customs Act, 1962- reg.
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....unishable under Customs Act, 1962- reg. Attention of the field formations is invited to the amendments to section 104 of the Customs Act, 1962 vide Finance Act, 2013 (with effect from 10.05.2013) whereby all offences are bailable other than the categories of offences punishable under section 135 of the Act ibid , which are classified as non-bailable. These are offences relating to: (a) evasion or attempted evasion of duty exceeding fifty lakh rupees; or (b) prohibited goods notified under section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962 (as amended) which are also notified under sub-clause (C) of clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 135 of the Customs Act, 1962 (as amended); or (c) import or export of any goods which ha....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... or evasion of customs duty by way of concealment; (iv) masterminds or key operators effecting proxy/benami imports/exports in the name of dummy or non-existent persons/IECs, etc. 2.2 The decision to arrest should be taken in cases which fulfil the requirement of the provisions of Section 104 (1) of Customs Act, 1962 and after considering the nature of offence, the role of the person involved and evidence available. ^1[2.3 While the Act does not specify any value limits for exercising the powers of arrest, it is clarified that arrest in respect of an offence, should be effected only in exceptional situations which may include: (a) Cases involving unauthorized importation in baggage/ cases under Transfer of Resi....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....tions and explosives, antiques, art treasures, wild life items and endangered species of flora and fauna. In such cases, arrest, if required, on the basis of facts and circumstances of the case, may be considered irrespective of value of offending goods involved.] 2.4 There is no prescribed format for arrest memo but an arrest memo must be in compliance with the directions in "D.K Basu vs. State of W.B. " reported as 1997 (1) SCC 416 (see para 35). The arrest memo should include: (a) brief facts of the case; (b) details of the person arrested; (c) list of evidence against the person; (d) relevant Section (s) of the Customs Act, 1962 or other laws attracted to the case and to th....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... in every case of arrest effected in accordance with the provisions of section 104 (1) of the Customs Act, 1962, there should be immediate intimation to the jurisdictional Chief Commissioner or DGRI, as the case may be. 3.1 In regard to the grant of bail and terms of bail, a person arrested for a non-bailable offence should be produced before concerned Magistrate without unnecessary delay in terms of provisions of Section 104 (2) of the Act. 3.2 Under sub-section (3) of section 104 an officer of Customs (arresting officer) has the same powers as an officer in charge of a Police Station under the Cr.PC. Thus, a Customs officer (arresting officer) is bound to release a person on bail for offences categorized as bailable und....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....issued vide F. No. 394/71/97-Cus (AS) dated 22.6.1999 (including the threshold limit specified at para 2.3) stand modified to the above extent. 5. Chief Commissioners/DGRI shall send a report on every arrest to the concerned Member within twenty-four (24) hours of the arrest. To maintain an all India record of arrests made under the Customs Act, 1962, a monthly report of all persons arrested in the Zone shall be sent by the Chief Commissioner to DRI (Hqrs) in the format prescribed and enclosed, by the 5th of the succeeding month and the same would be compiled and sent to Anti-Smuggling Unit, CBEC by 10th of every month zone wise. 6. The Chief Commissioners/Director Generals are hereby directed to circulate the present guidelines....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ing the powers of arrest, it is clarified that arrest in respect of an offence, categorized as bailable offence, should be effected only in exceptional situations which may include: (a) Outright smuggling of high value goods such as precious metal, restricted items or prohibited items or goods notified under section 123 of the Customs Act, 1962 or foreign currency where the value of offending goods exceeds Rs. 20 lakh. (b) In a case related to importation of trade goods (i.e. appraising cases) involving wilful misdeclaration in description of goods/concealment of goods/goods covered under section 123 of Customs Act, 1962 with a view to import restricted or prohibited items and where the CIF value of the offending goods exc....