TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (2) TMI 686
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....respective petitions seek quashing of the detention receipts both dated 20.12.2022 and further seek release of the respective Gold Chains weighing 116 grams in W.P.(C) 12295/2023 and 122 grams in W.P.(C) 14464/2023. 2. Petitioners were returning from Dubai to India on 20.12.2022. Petitioners were intercepted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and searched by the custom officers for detainable goods in their possession. The officers found a Gold Chain each in the possession of both the petitioners. A detention receipt dated 20.12.2022 was issued to the petitioners in respect of the respective Gold chains. Since then the chains are in the custody of the respondents. Petitioners seek quashing of the detention receipt and release of ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....from whose possession they have been seized in terms of section 110 (2) of the Act. 7. Reference may be had to section 124 of the Act which reads as under:- "124. Issue of show cause notice before confiscation of goods, etc.-No order confiscating any goods or imposing any penalty on any person shall be made under this Chapter unless the owner of the goods or such person- (a) is given a notice in writing with the prior approval of the officer of Customs not below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Customs, informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate the goods or to impose a penalty; (b) is given an opportunity of making a representation in writing within such reasonable time as may b....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....to a further period not exceeding six months and inform the person from whom such goods were seized before the expiry of the period so specified: Provided further that where any order for provisional release of the seized goods has been passed under section 110A, the specified period of six months shall not apply." 10. Section 110 (1) of the Act provides that where the proper office has reason to believe that any goods are liable to confiscation, he may seize such goods. Section 110 (2) mandates that where any goods are seized under sub-section (1) and no notice in respect thereof is given under clause (a) of section 124 within six months of the seizure, the goods shall be returned to the person from whose possession they were s....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....put forth for seizing the goods, there is a definite time-limit within which the Department has to determine if the seized goods are to be confiscated and if so, for giving a SCN under Section 124(a) of the Act. There appears to be no provision for 'detention' of goods instead of their 'seizure'. Therefore, where a customs officer is satisfied that the person found with the goods is not able to produce the necessary documents to justify being in possession thereof, the Customs officer has to form an opinion under Section 110(1) of the Act as to whether the said goods are liable to be confiscated and if so, to give a SCN under Section 124(a) of the Act. Section 110(2) makes it clear that the maximum time-limit for giving a SCN is six months ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....e. 11. If that is the position, then under Section 110(2) of the Act a SCN had to be given under Section 124(a) of the Act within six months of 17th June, 2014. With no such SCN having been given, the inevitable consequence, therefore, is that as mandated by Section 110(2) of the Act, the seized goods "shall be returned to the person from whose possession it was seized". Consequently, the Respondents are directed to release the Nepalese currency for which a 'detention' receipt was issued on 17th June, 2014, to the Petitioner upon him presenting himself with a certified copy of this order before the Superintendent of the warehouse (where the currency is presently kept by the Respondents) not later than two weeks from today. The writ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....mull vs Collector of Central Excise & Ors 1990 (Supp) SCC 527, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held as under:- "3. It appears to us that the consequence that flows from the failure to issue a show cause notice under Section 124(a) within the period of six months is limited to what is envisaged in sub-section (2) namely that the goods shall be returned to the person from whose possession they were seized. Section 110(2), does not prescribe a period of limitation within which a show cause notice is to be issued. But if no action by way of issue of a show cause notice is initiated under Section 124(a) within the period of six months, stipulated by Section 110(2) the effect would be that the person from whom the goods were seized....