Delhi High Court Orders Release of Seized Jewellery, Cash After Family Agrees To Pay ₹2.5 Crore Advance Tax

The Delhi High Court has directed the Income Tax Department to release the jewellery and cash seized from a family's house, after the latter agreed to deposit advance tax towards their probable tax liability arising from a search operation.

A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar passed the order while disposing of writ petitions filed by members of a family whose jewellery worth Rs 5.95 Crores and cash/forex amounting to about Rs 40 lakh had been seized during a search conducted under the Income Tax Act, alleging it to be out of the undisclosed income.

The petitioners sought release of the seized assets, contending that every seized article is explained/explainable. It was also pointed out that a family wedding was scheduled and that the jewellery was required for the occasion.

During the hearing, the petitioners submitted that they were willing to deposit Rs 2.5 crore as advance tax, without prejudice to their rights and contentions, to secure the interest of the Revenue.

Taking note of this position, the court directed that upon deposit of Rs 2.5 crore as advance tax by the petitioners, the Income Tax Department shall release the seized jewellery and cash within a stipulated time.

The court clarified that the release was purely interim in nature and would not prejudice the rights of either party in the pending assessment proceedings.

Case title: Koshaliya Devi Rastogi v. Assistant/ Deputy Commissioner Of Income Tax, Central Circle-27, New Delhi And Anr (and batch)

Citation: 2026 LLBiz HC (DEL) 27

Case Number: W.P.(C) 7448/2025 (and batch)

For Petitioners: Senior Advocate Sachit Jolly with Advocates Rashi Khanna, Devansh Jain, Sohum Dua and Abhyudaya Bajpyee, Manvi and Ghunain Siddiqui

For Respondent: Advocates Gaurav Gupta, SSC, Shivendra Singh and Yojit Pareek, JSC and  Surya Jindal

Click here to read order