Seizure of offending goods - CBEC's Customs Manual 2025 - Customs

2. Seizure of offending goods: 2.1 In terms of Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 an officer of Customs can seize any goods, if he has reason to believe that the goods are liable to confiscation under the said Act. If it is not practicable to seize any such goods, the proper officer may serve on the owner of the goods an order that he shall not remove, part with, or otherwise deal with the goods except with the previous permission of such officer. The proper officer may also seize any documents or things which, in his opinion, will be useful for, or relevant to, any proceeding under the said Act. The person from whose custody any documents are seized shall be entitled to make copies thereof or take extracts there from in the presence of an officer of customs. 2.2 The person from whom the goods are seized is issued Show Cause Notice, usually within 6 months, otherwise the goods shall be returned to the person from whose possession they were seized. However, Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the time period to further period, for issue of Show Cause Notice, for a period not exceeding 6 months and inform the person from whom such goods were seized before the expiry of the period so specified. Further, where any order for provisional release of the seized goods has been passed under section 110A, the specified period of six months shall not apply. 2.3 Section 110(1A) provides that in case the seized goods are perishable or hazardous in nature or prone to depreciate in value over time or for reasons of constraints in space, or for any other relevant consideration, the Central Government can specify the goods or class of goods by notification of such goods which shall as soon as be after seizure be disposed by the proper officer before the conclusion of the proceedings in such manner as determined by the Central Government after following the procedure specified. 2.4 During any proceedings under the Customs Act, 1962, the proper officer, with the approval of the Principal Commissioner / Commissioner of Customs, by order in writing, provisionally attach any bank account for a period of upto 6 months under the provisions of section 110(5). However, such an attachment can only be done when the proper officer develops an opinion that such an attachment is necessary for the purposes of protecting the interest of revenue or to prevent smuggling. The duration of such an attachment can be extended by the Principal Commissioner / Commissioner of Customs by a further period of upto 6 months after recording reasons for the order of provisional attachment must reflect the opinion of the proper officer as to why the provisional attachment is necessary to protect the revenue interests or prevent smuggling; and further that the written order directing the provisional attachment must be served not only on the bank but also on the bank account holder. To form an opinion, the proper officer should exercise due diligence by thoroughly considering and examining the facts of the case. This includes examining nature of offence, amount of revenue involved or value of smuggled goods, availability on record of material having value as evidence. Moreover, it must contain the reasons to believe that the bank account holder may utilize the funds from the bank account if it is not provisionally attached. The basis on which the proper officer forms an opinion to seek approval of provisional attachment of a person s bank account must be duly recorded on file. The formation of opinion should bear a proximate and live nexus to the purpose of protecting the interests of revenue and/or preventing smuggling. This must be followed by written approval of (Pr.) Commissioner. The power of provisional attachment must not be exercised in a routine/mechanical manner. It is important for the approving authority to make careful examination of facts of the case to determine whether a case is fit for exercising power under section 110(5). Before going ahead with any provisional attachment, the collective evidence, based on the proceedings/ inquiry already conducted in the case, must indicate that, prima facie, a case is made out against the bank account holder. (i). After the approval, the order in writing, which is issued directing the provisional attachment, must reflect/contain the basis of framing opinion by the proper officer to attach the bank account. It must clearly specify the duration for which the bank account is being attached. The initial period of provisional attachment cannot exceed six months. (ii). The order, or its extension, must be specifically addressed to both the bank account holder and the concerned bank. Further, even on expiry of initial provisional attachment period, or expiry of the period when extended period expires, communication to the concerned bank with a copy to bank account holder must be made informing the release or restoration of the bank account to the bank account holder. (iii). Insofar as extending the period of provisional attachment is concerned, the (Pr.) Commissioner may extend, for an additional period not exceeding six months, the period of provisional attachment only after providing the bank account holder with an opportunity to be heard in person and thereafter recording in writing the reasons for such an extension. This should lead to issuing of an order extending the period of provisional attachment. Accordingly, the exercise required for issuing the extension order should begin well in time such that if an extension is required it can be issued before the expiry of the initial provisional attachment period. (iv). At any time before the expiry of any attachment period, if the proper officer forms the opinion that the bank account is no longer liable for being provisionally attached, he shall, with the approval of (Pr.) Commissioner, issue communication to the concerned bank, with intimation to the bank account holder, to release or restore the bank account to the bank account holder. The communications referred herein above must bear the Document Identification Number (DIN) in terms of Board s Circular Nos. 37/2019- Customs dated 05.11.2019 and 43/2019-Customs dated 23.12.2019. (v). As the provisional attachment of bank account is resorted to protect the interests of the revenue and may also affect the business and functioning of the person whose bank account is provisionally attached, it may be endeavored that in all such cases, the investigation and adjudication are completed at the earliest, well within the period of attachment, so that the due liability of duty/tax as well as interest, penalty etc. arising upon adjudication can be recovered from the said person and the purpose of attachment is achieved. [Refer Instruction No. 19/2024-Customs dated 22.07.2024]