Delhi High Court Refuses To Entertain Foreign National's Plea Alleging Illegal Arrest By Customs Dept In Gold Smuggling Case

The Delhi High Court recently refused to entertain the writ petition moved by a Turkmenistan national, alleging that the Indian Customs Department had illegally arrested him in connection with alleged gold smuggling back in 2018.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed that the Department had produced the seized gold jewellery in a sealed cover and the same, upon inspection, could not be termed as 'personal effect' of the Petitioner.“The box was unsealed by the Customs Officials and the gold item was produced before the Court, which would clearly show that it is not a personal effect of the Petitioner. The chain is a thick and heavy chain consisting of rings linked to each other,” it observed.Significant to note that the pleadings had no averments regarding illegal arrest of the Petitioner and submissions in this regard were only made orally.Petitioner submitted that the gold seized from him valued less than ₹50 lakh, threshold for arrest in a gold smuggling case. Yet, he was detained in the airport for three days and also illegally arrested.The Customs however alleged that a total of 15,560 grams gold having a market value of Rs.4.46 crores was found in the possession of the Petitioner and 22 other passengers who were all travelling together. The jewellery was ordered to be confiscated by an order passed in May 2018, with penalty.Considering that this order was never challenged by the Petitioner, the Court refused to interfere in the matter. It said,“All of the said passengers were arrested and they were given bail on 18th May, 2018 by the concerned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi…At this stage, in these facts, the Court is also not inclined to allow any challenge to the said Order-in-Original. The said order does not warrant any interference.”Appearance: Mr. Pramod Saxena, Adv. for Petitioner; Mr. Gibran Naushad, SSC with Mr. Harsh Singhal & Mr. Suraj Shekhar Singh, Advs. for RespondentCase title: Myratgeldi Mammedov v. Union Of India & Anr.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1527Case no.: W.P.(C) 2685/2021Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Refuses To Entertain Foreign National's Plea Alleging Illegal Arrest By Customs Dept In Gold Smuggling Case

Kapil Dhyani

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