Delhi High Court Sets Aside ₹10 Crore Security Demanded By Customs For Provisional Release Of Seized Goods, Calls It 'Onerous'

Calling the condition 'onerous', a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta ordered provisional release of Petitioner's imported Roasted Areca Nuts on furnishing bond of Rs.4.10 crore along with a Bank Guarantee of Rs. 50 lakh.

The Department had claimed that the value of goods as per the minimum import price is approximately Rs 4.10 Crores.

Petitioner on the other hand claimed the goods to be worth Rs. 1 Crore.

The dispute arose in September 2024 with respect to classification of the nuts. Petitioner claimed the goods were seized despite a ruling from Customs Authority of Advance Ruling that the goods in question are to be classified under CTH 2008 19 20- 'Other roasted nuts & seed' of Chapter 20 of the First Schedule.

The Department relied on test reports from Central Revenues Control Laboratory and submitted that the goods may be considered as 'dried areca nuts'.

Since the goods were perishable, the Petitioner sought provisional release which the Joint Commissioner allowed subject to conditions as stated above.

Modifying the condition, the Court observed,

“The impugned order requires a personal bond for more than Rs. 4.10 crores along with a Bank Guarantee for a sum of over Rs. 5.81 crores i.e., the overall security demanded is almost Rs. 10 crores. Even if the value as stated by the Department is taken into consideration, bearing in mind the value of goods itself, the conditions for provisional release are clearly onerous.”

Appearance: Mr. Arjun Raghvendra & Mr. P. R. Abhiram, Advocate for Petitioner; Mr. Anurag Ojha, SSC with Mr. Dipak Raj, Mr. Shashank Kumar & Ms. Garima Kumar, Advocates for Respondent

Case title: M/S Shreehari Ananta Overseas Pvt. Ltd. v. The Commissioner Of Customs Icd Patparganj

Case no.: W.P.(C) 8788/2025

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