2026 (9) TMI 1774

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....ted:- 10-9-2026<br>WP No. 36871 of 2026 And WMP Nos. 41334 and 41335 of 2026 - -<br>Customs<br>Hon&#39;ble Mr. Justice Hemant Chandangoudar For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. A.K. Jayaraj For the Respondent(s) : Ms. M. Sheela, Senior Standing Counsel for R1 and R2 Mr.C.Mohan for Mrs.A.Rexy Josephine Mary for M/s.King & Partridge for R3 ORDER The petitioner has approached this Court challengin....

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....Act, 1962. 5. Section 110(5) of the Customs Act permits provisional attachment of a bank account for a period not exceeding six months. The proviso permits the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs, for reasons to be recorded in writing, to extend the period by a further period not exceeding six months. Such extension must also be communicated to the person whose account ....

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....tioner's request for defreezing the account. According to the respondents, the petitioner has to approach the adjudicating authority. 8. The said contention cannot be accepted. The freezing of the petitioner's bank account was ordered at the instance of the second respondent under Section 110(5) of the Customs Act. The power to provisionally attach the bank account is expressly subject to the l....

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....reme Court emphasised that an attachment which has ceased to operate by efflux of the statutory period cannot be continued by administrative action. 11. Though the said decision arose under the CGST Act, the principle that a statutory authority cannot continue a provisional attachment beyond the period expressly permitted by the statute is relevant to the present case. In the present case, Sect....