Amit Kumar Gupta vs. Principal Commissioner Of Customs (Import)
Held
The High Court held that the Customs Act is a self-contained code and the CMM lacked jurisdiction to order the disposal of seized goods under Section 451 CrPC. The disposal of such goods must be in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Customs Act and its associated manuals.
Facts
The petitioner imported dry dates, but the Customs Department suspected they originated from Pakistan, not Iran, to evade higher import duties. The department seized the goods and initiated proceedings. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) ordered the disposal of the perishable goods under Section 451 CrPC.
Key Issues
Whether a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has the jurisdiction to order the disposal of goods seized under the Customs Act using provisions of the CrPC, or if the Customs Act exclusively governs such matters.
Sections Cited
Section 451 CrPC, Section 135 Customs Act, Section 122 Customs Act
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
CRL.M.C. 236/2021 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of decision: 21st DECEMBER, 2021
IN THE MATTER OF: + CRL.M.C. 236/2021 & CRL.M.A. 1244/2021
AMIT KUMAR GUPTA
..... Petitioner
Through Mr. Priyadarshi Manish, Ms. Anjali J.
Manish and Mr. Kinjal Shrivastava,
Advocate
versus
PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (IMPORT) ..... Respondent Through Mr. Satish Aggarwala, Sr. SPP with Mr. Gagan Vaswani, Advocate
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD
SUBRAMONIUM PRASAD, J.
The present petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is for setting aside the order dated 16.02.2020 passed the Ld. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate which directed the disposal of the goods imported by the petitioner which are perishable in nature and kept in the custody of the respondent in accordance with the Disposal Manual 2019. The Petitioner herein is a businessman and is the sole proprietor of M/s Jai Dev Traders, 384, Kirana Mandi, Ram Nagar, Ghaziabad-201001. 2. The fac
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