TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 218
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....he present Petition, the Petitioner seeks a direction to the Respondent to release eight gold bars, collectively weighing 290 grams, detained/seized vide Detention Receipt No. DR/INDEL4/27-02-2024/003893 dated 27.02.2024. The Petitioner also seeks a direction that no detention or warehouse charges be recovered from him at the time of release of the said gold. FACTUAL MATRIX 3. In order to appreciate the controversy involved in the present Petition, the relevant facts, in brief, are required to be noticed. 4. The Petitioner, an Indian citizen, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi on 27.02.2024. He had travelled from Jeddah to Bahrain and thereafter to Delhi. Upon his arrival, he was intercepted by the Customs authorities after he had crossed the Green Channel. 5. A Detention Receipt bearing No. DR/INDEL4/27-02-2024/003893 dated 27.02.2024 was issued, which receipt records that one cut plastic bottle containing eight yellow metal bars weighing 290 grams, wrapped with Customs tape and sealed with Customs "BAIGI", had been detained/seized. The reason for detention/seizure was recorded as "Green Channel Violation". 6. The contemporaneous record fu....
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....oner cannot be deprived of the statutory protection under Section 124 merely on the basis of the statement relied upon by the Department, wherein the Petitioner is stated to have waived the requirement of a show cause notice and personal hearing. 11.2. It was contended that the proviso to Section 124 permits the notice contemplated under clause (a) and the representation contemplated under clause (b) to be oral only at the request of the person concerned. According to the Petitioner, the statement relied upon by the Department does not record any request made by him for an oral show cause notice. It was further submitted that the Department's reliance upon an alleged oral show cause notice is an attempt to overcome the statutory requirement contained in Section 110(2). It was contended that an oral show cause notice cannot be treated as a mere formality and must communicate to the person concerned the grounds on which confiscation or penalty is proposed. 11.3. Reliance was placed upon the judgments of this Court in Ms. Shubhangi Gupta v. Commissioner of Customs & Ors. to contend that a waiver of show cause notice and personal hearing, particularly when contained in a standard....
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....ated that he did not require a show cause notice or personal hearing, and therefore, the Petitioner cannot now rely upon the absence of a written show cause notice when the statutory scheme expressly permits an oral show cause notice at the request of the person concerned. 12.4. It was further submitted that the judgments relied upon by the Petitioner concerning pre-printed waivers are distinguishable since, according to the Respondent, the present case involves a specific oral show cause notice having been given to the Petitioner on the date of detention itself. It was also submitted that no Order-in-Original has yet been passed and that the Department is ready and willing to afford the Petitioner an opportunity of personal hearing and thereafter adjudicate the matter in a time-bound manner. ANALYSIS & FINDINGS 13. This Court has carefully considered the submissions advanced on behalf of the parties and perused the material on record. 14. At the outset, it is necessary to notice the statutory scheme. Section 110(2) of the Act provides that where goods are seized under Section 110(1) and no notice in respect thereof is given under clause (a) of Section 124 within six mo....
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....isputes the voluntary nature and legal character of the document relied upon by the Department. He alleges that he was made to sign pre-prepared documents and blank papers and that the contents were not properly explained to him. He also disputes that there was any valid oral show cause notice. 21. Thus, the present case is materially different from a case where the Department itself admits that no show cause notice, whether written or oral, was ever given. In Shubhangi Gupta (supra), the Revenue had conceded that no written show cause notice had been issued and, significantly, the Court found that there was no averment in the counter affidavit that an oral show cause notice had been issued. The Court accordingly held that, in the absence of such notice, the requirements of Section 124(a) had not been satisfied. 22. In the present case, however, the Department has specifically pleaded and asserted that an oral show cause notice was issued on 27.02.2024. Whether the proceedings conducted on that date constitute a valid oral show cause notice within the meaning of the first proviso to Section 124, and whether the Petitioner's statement was voluntarily made, are questions which ....
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....legations of coercion. 28. It is clarified that the aforesaid conclusion does not amount to an acceptance of the Respondent's submission that a person can waive the statutory requirement of a show cause notice merely by making a statement to that effect. Section 124 itself contemplates an oral notice only in the circumstances specified in its first proviso. Likewise, the ratio of Jatin Ahuja (supra) regarding the mandatory consequence flowing from Section 110(2) remains binding. 29. The limited question before this Court is whether, in the factual circumstances of the present case, the writ court should order unconditional release of the goods without permitting the adjudicating authority to examine the competing factual assertions and complete the statutory proceedings. In our view, the answer must be in the negative. 30. The Petitioner has an opportunity to appear before the adjudicating authority, place on record his version regarding the alleged declaration of the gold, challenge the circumstances in which the Section 108 statement was recorded, raise his objections regarding the alleged oral show cause notice and seek consideration of all material relied upon by the D....