Legal provisions - CBEC's Customs Manual 2025 - Customs

2. Legal provisions: 2.1 As per Section 48 of the Customs Act, 1962, if any goods brought into India from a place outside India are not cleared for home consumption or warehoused or transshipped within 30 days from the date of unloading thereof at a port, such goods can be disposed of by the custodian. The Act, however, stipulates that the goods can be sold only after a notice is issued to the importer and the permission from Customs is obtained. The provisions relating to manner of disposal of unclaimed/uncleared goods and apportionment of sale proceeds thereof are contained in Sections 48 and 150 of the Customs Act, 1962.