Customs | Attending Weddings Can't Justify Indian Origin Foreigner Bringing Half Kilogram Gold Jewellery: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that under the garb of attending weddings where wearing gold jewellery is a common affair, a foreigner of Indian origin cannot be permitted to bring half kg gold jewellery to India.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Renu Bhatnagar further added that there was no explanation for the Petitioner, a US citizen, to bring 17 high value mobile phones (iPhones) to India and walk through the green channel.“A total of 17 mobile phones were brought by the Petitioner and his family and they were passing through the Green channel, hiding the said phones in the infant child's stroller…There can be no justification for anyone to carry 17 mobile phones into the country, that too without declaring the same. Even the attending of weddings cannot justify bringing in half a kilo of gold jewellery, without declaring the same to the authorities,” the judges observed.The Court was dealing with a review petition moved by the Customs against Court's order asking the authority to let the Petitioner take back his gold jewellery and used iPhones.In his writ petition, the Petitioner had also alleged that he and his family members were “enormously harassed” by the authority, leading the Court to seek an explanation from the authority.In its review petition, the Department produced CCTV footage from the airport to demonstrate that the Petitioner was outrightly smuggling the goods in question by hiding them in the child's stroller.The Court said these facts were not disclosed in the writ petition and a contrary impression of illegal detention was sought to be conveyed by the Petitioner.As such, the Court recalled its order passed in favour of the Petitioner and permitted the Customs to issue a Show Cause Notice to the Petitioner under Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962.The contempt petition filed by the Petitioner, alleging disobedience of Court's previous order was also dismissed, with Rs.10,000/- costs.Appearance: Mr. Suryanarayana Singh, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Vikas Malik, Adv. along with the Petitioner in person for Petitioner; Ms. Anushree Narain, SSC with Mr. Yamit Jetley, Advs for RespondentCase title: Mohit Mann v. UoICase no.: REVIEW PET. 621/2025Click here to read order

Customs | Attending Weddings Can't Justify Indian Origin Foreigner Bringing Half Kilogram Gold Jewellery: Delhi High Court

Kapil Dhyani

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