Jeweller's 1.6 kg of gold and Rs 62.7 lakh cash confiscated as 'smuggled'; tribunal sets it aside after four years
On 5 March 2022 revenue intelligence officers searched a Visakhapatnam jewellery business and seized four gold biscuits (1.6 kg) and Rs 62.71 lakh in cash, treating the gold as smuggled because it bore foreign markings. The owners produced a purchase invoice, bank transfer and tax returns. Customs confiscated everything and imposed penalties; on 13 August 2026 the tribunal set the confiscation and penalties aside.
This page records what the cited court, tribunal and government records say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →Confiscation and penalties set aside by the tribunal on 13 August 2026. The department may appeal.
What happened
The tribunal recorded that four gold biscuits of 400 grams each, valued at Rs 21,20,000, and Rs 62,71,000 in Indian currency were seized from the business premises on Town Kotha Road, Visakhapatnam, on 5 March 2022. Officers proceeded on the basis that the gold was of foreign origin and smuggled, and that the cash was the sale proceeds of smuggled gold.
The original authority ordered absolute confiscation of the gold and currency and imposed penalties; the Commissioner (Appeals) rejected the appeals. The appellants said the biscuits were part of eight bought from a supplier in Yanam under a tax invoice dated 4 March 2022, paid for by RTGS and shown in GST returns, and that the cash was business income.
The tribunal held that 'foreign markings alone do not invariably establish that the gold was smuggled', that the documentary defence had not been verified, and that the link between the cash and any smuggled gold was not established. It noted that the Kolkata bench had earlier released gold seized in the linked Kolkata case. It set aside the confiscation and the penalties.
What the tribunal said
“However, foreign markings alone do not invariably establish that the gold was smuggled.”
Customs Appeal Nos. 30189 to 30191 of 2024, final order dated 13 August 2026, para 33 — read the full text
Owning gold, presumed smuggled
Gold is not prohibited in India, but it is a notified good under section 123 of the Customs Act, which shifts the burden of proof onto the person found holding it. A jeweller with a purchase invoice lost his stock and cash for four years.
What we could not confirm
The penalty amounts are not stated in the tribunal order. The seizure followed an earlier seizure in Kolkata involving one of the appellants.