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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW
SHEKHAR B.SARAF, MANJIVE SHUKLA
J.K. Enterprises Thru. Proprietor Smt. Jasvinderkaur – Appellant
Versus
Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) U.P. And Uttarakhand Lko. – Respondent
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. summary of case filings and court procedure. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4) |
| 2. testing and reports on seized areca nuts. (Para 5 , 6) |
| 3. arguments regarding the origin and quality of the goods. (Para 7 , 8) |
| 4. court's analysis on the legitimacy of the seizure. (Para 9 , 11 , 13) |
| 5. requirements for a valid seizure based on belief. (Para 12) |
| 6. conclusion on the quashing of seizure orders. (Para 14 , 15) |
JUDGMENT :
MANJIVE SHUKLA, J.
1. Counter affidavits filed by the respondents in Writ Tax No. 258 of 2026, Writ Tax No. 254 of 2026, Writ Tax No. 253 of 2026 and Writ Tax No. 245 of 2026 are taken on record.
2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Kuldeep Srivastava, learned counsel for the customs authorities.
3. The above writ petitions deal with a similar issue of seizure of areca nuts by the customs officials and have been accordingly heard out together. In light of the same, common judgement shall apply to all the four writ petitions i.e. Writ Tax No. 258 of 2026, Writ Tax No. 254 of 2026, Writ Tax No. 253 of 2026 and Writ Tax No. 245 of 2026.
4. For ease of the understanding, we are dealing with Writ Tax No. 258 of 2026 and the facts of the same are provided below:-
5.
The customs authorities must establish credible material supporting a belief that goods are of foreign origin before seizure; failure to do so renders the seizure unlawful.
Seizure of goods under the Customs Act requires objective evidence to establish 'reason to believe' that goods are of foreign origin; mere suspicion or subjective opinions are insufficient.
The court validated the customs authority's seizure of goods based on reasonable suspicion, upholding the impossibility of judicial review on the sufficiency of the officer's reasons.
Food safety authority's clearance via NOCs after rigorous testing binds customs authorities, precluding arbitrary re-testing, seizure of compliant imported food goods without justification.
Food safety authority's NOCs confirming imported food fit for human consumption after testing bind customs; arbitrary re-testing, seizure without overriding reasons invalid.
Section 123 of Act, 1962 provides that where any goods included under Sub-section 2 of Section 123 are seized on basis of reasonable belief that same are smuggled goods, then burden of proving that t....
The court emphasized that interference at the stage of issuance of show cause notice should be rare and not in a routine manner, and the availability of alternative remedy should be considered before....
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