S.110 Customs Act | Extension To Issue SCN Must Be Granted Before Expiry Of Initial Six-Month Period: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that the six-month extension contemplated under Section 110 of the Customs Act 1962 for issuance of a show cause notice after detention of goods by the Customs must be issued before expiry of the initial six-month window.For context, Section 110 deals with Seizure of goods. It stipulates that where any goods are seized, and no notice is given within six months of the seizure, the goods shall be returned. Provided that the Principal Commissioner may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend such period to a further period not exceeding six months.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain said,“A perusal of Section 110 (2) of the Customs Act, 1962, would show that the said extension of six months ought to have been recorded in writing before the expiry of the initial six months…In the facts of the present case, the six month period provided under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962, has expired on 7th October, 2025. The six months extension would, therefore, not be tenable as the letter notifying the same has been issued post the expiry of the initial six months period.”Briefly put, the Petitioner sought release of a gold bar weighing 117 grams, which was detained by the Customs Authorities on 8th April, 2025, when he travelled from Saudi Arabia to Delhi. Petitioner submitted that the six-month period, as prescribed under Section 110, had already lapsed, and no show-cause notice was issued to him.The Department, however, handed over a letter dated 13th October, 2025, by which the time limit for issuance of SCN was extended by a further period of six months.The Court firstly noted that the gold bar, which was detained from the Petitioner, is not a personal effect of the Petitioner. It said,“Clearly, the Petitioner was attempting to smuggle the said gold bar into the country. Hence, in the opinion of this Court, the gold bar was rightfully detained.”The Court however observed that there was an issue in terms of the notice for extension of time period, inasmuch as the extension was granted after expiry of the initial six months period.“Moreover, the question as to whether the letter of intimation of the extension of time period for issuing the show cause notice has even been served to the Petitioner or not is unclear,” it added.The Court further said that it is now mandatory for the detention receipts to contain the email address and mobile number of the passenger, which was not there in the present case. Under such circumstances, the Court ordered gold bar of the Petitioner be released subject to payment of Customs Duty along with the redemption fine and warehousing charges.Appearance: Mr. S. Vijay Kanth and Mr. Utkarsh Tripathi, Advs. for Petitioner; Mr. Avijeet Dixit, Adv. for RespondentCase title: Mohammad Rashid v. The Commissioner Of CustomsCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1593Case no.: W.P.(C) 16137/2025Click here to read order

S.110 Customs Act | Extension To Issue SCN Must Be Granted Before Expiry Of Initial Six-Month Period: Delhi High Court

Kapil Dhyani

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