'Customs Officers' Are Not 'Police Officers', Must Satisfy Higher Threshold Of 'Reasons To Believe' Before Arrest : Supreme Court

Dealing with a challenge to penal provisions of the Customs Act, the Supreme Court today observed that 'customs officers' are not 'police officers' and that they must satisfy a higher threshold of "reasons to believe" before arresting an accused.A bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justices MM Sundresh, Bela M Trivedi made the observation while delivering verdict in a batch of 279 petitions challenging the penal provisions in the Customs Act, CGST/SGST Act, etc. as non-compatible with the CrPC and...

BNSS/CrPC Provisions On Rights Of Arrested Persons Applicable To GST & Customs Acts : Supreme Court

The Court also held that anticipatory bail provisions are applicable to GST and Customs Acts.

Subsequent Purchaser Of Imported Vehicle Cannot Be Asked To Pay Customs Duty; Liability On Importer : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled that the 'subsequent purchaser' of an imported motor car cannot be called an 'importer' to attract the liability under the Customs Act, 1962 to pay customs duty on the import of the vehicle. The bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh heard the appeal preferred by the subsequent purchaser of a Porsche Car against the High Court's decision upholding the demand of custom duty of ₹17,92,847 from the appellant along with other individuals on the...