The Writ Court Will Not Decide Whether His Own Signature Was Forced

What the record showed

The petitioner's statement recorded that he did not want a written show cause notice or a personal hearing, and that an oral show cause notice had been received. A separate written request, almost a month later, asked the Department to take a lenient view.

This was therefore not a case where the Department relied only on a departmental record prepared afterwards. There were contemporaneous documents bearing his own signature, separated in time, which materially contradicted the factual foundation of the petition.

Why the writ court would not decide it

His explanation that he was coerced into signing is a disputed factual assertion. No contemporaneous retraction was shown, and in the later written request he did not allege that the earlier statement had been forcibly obtained or was incorrect — on the contrary, it proceeded on the basis that he had made a mistake by opting for the Green Channel and not declaring the goods.

His later assertion that he had in fact declared the gold at the Red Channel therefore raises a disputed question of fact which cannot be satisfactorily adjudicated under Article 226. Nor would the Court examine the alleged CCTV footage: in substance he sought a finding that the Department's contemporaneous documents were false or coerced, which requires an appreciation of evidence.

The authority he relied on lays down a binding proposition — that where the notice under Section 124(a) is not given within the period in Section 110(2), the statutory consequence follows. But the case could not be decided merely on his assertion that there was no notice at all, when the Department relies on his own written acknowledgement that an oral notice had been received.

The warning the Court attached

The first proviso to Section 124 does permit the notice and the representation to be oral, at the request of the person concerned.

That requirement cannot be reduced to a mechanical or pre-printed waiver. The Court has repeatedly cautioned the Customs Department against such a practice, and has in appropriate cases directed it to discontinue reliance on standard pre-printed waivers and to comply with Section 124.

Nothing in this order approves any such practice. The Court expressed no opinion on whether the gold is liable to confiscation or any penalty imposable, and the dismissal does not preclude the petitioner from pursuing his remedies before the competent authority.

Who argued it

Frequently asked

Can a show cause notice under the Customs Act be oral?

Yes, under the first proviso to Section 124, at the request of the person concerned — but not through a mechanical pre-printed waiver.

Why was the petition dismissed?

Because whether the signed documents were coerced, and whether the gold was declared, are disputed facts that a writ court will not decide.

Challenging a customs seizure on want of notice

1. Read every document your client signed before pleading that no notice was given; the Department will produce them.
2. Retract a coerced statement contemporaneously and in writing, or the point becomes a disputed fact.
3. Keep the claim to a pure question of law if you want Article 226; anything needing evidence goes to the adjudicating authority.
4. Where a pre-printed waiver was used, say so — the Court has repeatedly disapproved that practice.

Source. High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, W.P.(C) No. 42 of 2026, decided 2 September 2026 by Justice HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHAIL JAIN, Justice HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.

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