Delhi High Court Directs Customs Department To Set Up Passenger Grievance Counters At Delhi Airport

The Delhi High Court has asked the Commissioner of Customs at the IGI Airport to create some counters of the Department outside the airport's security zone, for easy access of aggrieved passengers.The direction was made by a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain after the Petitioner, a resident of Kuwait whose gold cut piece was seized by the Department, complained that since the counters of the Customs Department are in the secured area, it is not easy to access them for making representations.“This matter may be looked into by the concerned Commissioner of Customs at the Airport and a mechanism shall be set up so that some counters can be created at a designated area which can be easily accessed without entering the secured airport premises,” the Court ordered.The Petitioner was primarily aggrieved by disposal of the seized gold, despite his making a representation to the Department that he is willing to re-export the gold piece and it may not be disposed of.The Court also noted that the entire gold piece came to be disposed of prior to issuance of Show Cause Notice to the Petitioner. In fact, the subsequent order directing confiscation also ignored the fact that the gold has been disposed of.The Department on the other hand claimed that the alleged representation is not reflected in the receipt register maintained by the Customs.It is at this juncture that the Petitioner apprised the bench of the difficulty faced by passengers, whose goods are detained, in accessing the Customs counter. It was submitted that passengers often have to take help of the airport staff to deliver letters/ representations and to obtain seals.As such, the Court directed the Customs Commissioner to take some action in the matter and so far as Petitioner is concerned, it ordered the Department to release him the sale proceeds of the gold piece after deducting redemption fine.Appearance: Mr. Harsh Trikha, Adv. for Petitioner; Mr. Vishal Chadha, SSC with Mr. Chandan Kumar, Adv for RespondentCase title: Imran v. Commissioner Of Customs, IGI AirportCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1111Case no.: W.P.(C) 10651/2025Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Directs Customs Department To Set Up Passenger Grievance Counters At Delhi Airport

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