W.P. (C) Nos. 8902/2021; 9561/2021; 13131/2022; 531/2022; & 8083/2023 Page 1 of 174

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

%

Judgment reserved on: 07 July 2023

Judgment pronounced on: 21 August 2023

+

W.P.(C) 8902/2021

NIDHI KAPOOR

..... Petitioner

Through:

Mr. Nitin Ahlawat, Mr. Visesh

Chaudhary, Mr. Sahil Dagar

and Ms. Sonali Sardana, Advs.

versus

PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER AND ADDITIONAL

SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA & ORS.

..... Respondents

Through:

Mr. Tarun Gulati, Sr. Adv.

Amicus Curie, Mr. Kishore

Kunal, Mr. Kumar Sambhav,

Advs.

Mr. Satish Kumar, Sr. Standing

Counsel and Ms. Sonu

Bhatnagar, Sr. Standing

Counsel on behalf of

respondent no. 2 & 3 along with

Mr. Dhruv, Mr. Mandal, Advs.

AND

+

W.P.(C) 9561/2021

SUPRIYA

..... Petitioner

Through:

Appearance not given

versus

Digitally Signed

By:NEHA

Signing Date:21.08.2023

17:00:50

Signature Not Verified

W.P. (C) Nos. 8902/2021; 9561/2021; 13131/2022; 531/2022; & 8083/2023 Page 2 of 174

ADDITIONAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF

INDIA AND ORS

..... Respondents

Through:

Mr. Satish Kumar, Sr. Standing

Counsel for respondent no. 2 &

3 with Mr. Dhruv, Mr. Atul

Mandal, Advs.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Ms. Easha

Kadiyan, Ms. Hemlata Rawat,

Advs. for R-4

Mr. Dev Bhardwaj and Ms.

Anubha Bhardwaj, Advs with

Mr.

Sachin

Singh,

Ms.

Divyanshi Srivastava, Advs.,

for Union of India

AND

+

W.P.(C) 13131/2022, CM APPL. 11400/2023(Add. Document)

SUDHA MURTHY

..... Petitioner

Through:

Appearance not given

versus

JT COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, IGI AIRPORT T-3

DELHI

..... Respondent

Through:

Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Sr.

Standing Counsel, Mr.

Ashutosh Jain, Mr. Samyak

Jain, Advs.

AND

+

W.P.(C) 531/2022, CM APPL. 1519/2022(Stay)

Digitally Signed

By:NEHA

Signing Date:21.08.2023

17:00:50

Signature Not Verified

W.P. (C) Nos. 8902/2021; 9561/2021; 13131/2022; 531/2022; & 8083/2023 Page 3 of 174

MR. JASMEET SINGH CHADHA

..... Petitioner

Through:

Mr. Chinmaya Seth, Mr. A.K.

Seth, Advs.

versus

COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, IGI AIRPORT, NEW

DELHI

..... Respondent

Through:

Mr. Satish Kumar, Sr. Standing

Counsel for respondent no. 2 &

3 with Mr. Dhruv, Mr. Atul

Mandal, Advs.

AND

+

W.P.(C) 8083/2023, CM APPL. 31146/2023(Stay)

MS. SHANAZ MALIK

..... Petitioner

Through:

Ms. Akanksha Mehra, Mr.

Lakshay

Saini

and

Mr.

Himanshu Tyagi, Advs.

versus

UNION OF INDIA

..... Respondent

Through:

Appearance not given.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DHARMESH SHARMA

DHARMESH SHARMA, J.

1.

In our country, ‗gold‘ has always been symbolized as a pious

material embracing the powers of the divine. Perhaps no one prizes

Digitally Signed

By:NEHA

Signing Date:21.08.2023

17:00:50

Signature Not Verified

W.P. (C) Nos. 8902/2021; 9561/2021; 13131/2022; 531/2022; & 8083/2023 Page 4 of 174

gold more than we Indians do. Such is the temptation to acquire and

possess ‗gold‘ that since it is much cheaper outside India in certain

countries, people of our country travel to various foreign locations and

attempt to bring ‗gold‘ into India, albeit employing or deploying

various kinds of clandestine and dubious measures, and inevitably

landing up on the wrong side of the law in our country. Even foreign

nationals are no exception. There is no gainsaying that bringing of

‗gold‘ in an unauthorised or illegal manner causes a cascading effect

on the economy of the country. As we shall discuss hereinafter, the

customs authorities too have been dealing with issues of the

importation of ‗gold‘ in a manner that does not inspire confidence. It

is our experience that at times the authorities concerned have

manifestly exercised their powers arbitrarily in matters of assessment

and levy of duty, imposition of fine and/or penalty besides

release/redemption of the confiscated gold. Such arbitrariness leaves

much to be desired in terms of transparency, equity a