Customs seizure of undeclared US dollars from departing travellers at Chandigarh airport
Customs officers seized undeclared US dollars from three departing foreign travellers at Chandigarh airport in July 2024 and filed a complaint under the Customs Act. The High Court recorded that the petitioner had spent over three months in custody and ordered release on bail with a travel bar. The prosecution remained pending.
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 →Released on regular bail with travel restriction while the Customs complaint remains pending.
What happened
The High Court recorded that intelligence-based checking took place on 13.07.2024 in the international departure boarding zone at Chandigarh airport after customs and immigration clearance, while the travellers were boarding a flight to Abu Dhabi.
The High Court recorded that search of hand bags and checked luggage yielded undeclared US currency, including 68,800 US dollars from the petitioner and similar sums from two co-travellers, on the allegation that they had not declared the currency on arrival.
The High Court recorded that a complaint had been filed under Section 135 of the Customs Act read with Section 61 of BNS 2023, that the cash was already seized, that the passport was with customs, and that the petitioner had spent over three months in judicial custody.
The High Court ordered that the petitioner be released on regular bail on a personal bond with sureties and directed that the petitioner was not to leave India during the pendency of the criminal proceedings without court permission.
What the record says
“68,800 US dollars having market value of Rs.57,49,616/-”
CRM-M-46607-2024 order dated 14.10.2024 as reproduced on Indian Kanoon — read the full text
A peaceful economic act
Carrying and holding foreign currency is a peaceful economic act with no complaining victim, and the state met it with seizure, custody and prosecution.
What we could not confirm
Full certified judgment pages were not separately opened; facts rely on the Indian Kanoon reproduction of the High Court order. Exact dollar amounts for co-travellers and currency-declaration form details could not be independently verified.