Delhi High Court Upholds Relief to Woman in IGI Gold Seizure Case; Customs Plea Dismissed
The Delhi High Court bench comprising Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Ajay Digpaul has announced its decision on a writ petition filed by the Commissioner of Customs, IGI Airport, New Delhi, against Ms Shabnam Parneen and others, challenging an order dated December 12, 2025, passed by the Revisionary Authority under Section 129DD of the Customs Act, 1962. The impugned order had allowed the respondent to redeem seized gold on payment of a fine and penalty.
The respondent, Ms Shabnam Parveen, travelled from Bangkok to New Delhi on May 09, 2022, at IGI Airport, Terminal-3, New Delhi. She was detained by the customs officers after crossing the green channel. Officers confiscated Shabnam’s two yellow metal cut-piece bars weighing 300 grams for “Green Channel violation”. Total seized material cost Rs. 14.07 lakh, as per the detention receipt.
Under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962, the initial statement of Shabnam was that the recovered goods did not pertain to her, and she claimed that some unknown person had handed over these items to her in Bangkok to deliver in Delhi. She did not possess bills of the goods, and as she was aware that customs duty is imposed on goods, she deliberately did not declare the goods. Additionally, she agreed to the description, quantity, and value assessed by the department. She requested the requested authority to decide the case on its merits.
Later she filed a retraction application to the concerned authority, withdrawing her earlier statement and stating she, along with her husband, was caught by the customs officers. They were beaten up and threatened to sign some blank papers. They were not aware of what was written in those papers. Later, her husband got to know that some false statement was recorded under Section 108 of the Customs Act.
The Joint Commissioner of Customs had ordered absolute confiscation of the gold and imposed penalties. However, the Commissioner (Appeals) allowed redemption of the gold on payment of Rs. 146,000 as a redemption fine, Rs. 146,000 as a penalty, and applicable duty, treating the case as non-declaration rather than organised smuggling. The Revisionary Authority sustained the ruling of Commissioner (Appeals).
Now, the department has challenged the revision order before the Delhi High Court, arguing that as per the rules, the respondent was ineligible to import gold and therefore redemption should not have been allowed. The Court held that it cannot re-examine or re-check the evidence like an appeal court does, unless there is a clear legal mistake or if the decision is completely unreasonable. To support this ruling, the court cited an earlier judgement in a case titled Syed Yakoob v. K.S. Radhakrishnan.
The court did not find any errors in the earlier ruling and hence dismissed the writ petition and sustained the impugned order permitting the release of the gold upon payment of the decided fine, penalty, and duty.
Citation: Commissioner of Customs, IGI Airport, New Delhi Vs Ms. Shabnam Parneen and Others (Delhi High Court); W.P.(C) 2417/2026; 20/02/2026
