Tribunal sets aside confiscation of about 3.7 kg gold seized at Zaveri Bazar
Customs officers seized about 3,723.65 grams of gold valued at about Rs 2.12 crore from a bullion melting operator's premises at Zaveri Bazar, Mumbai, and ordered absolute confiscation plus a Rs 25 lakh penalty. The operator appealed to the Mumbai customs tribunal. On 20 August 2026 the tribunal allowed the appeal and set aside the confiscation and penalty as challenged.
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 penalty stand set aside by the tribunal to the extent challenged; no further appeal is recorded in the order.
What happened
The tribunal recorded that the appellant was a bullion melting-shop operator in Mumbai, and the respondent was the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Mumbai.
The tribunal recorded that the seizure was made on 20.02.2023 at Room No. 3, SNK Plaza Building, Khau Galli, Kavi Nirav Lane, Zaveri Bazar, Mumbai, comprising gold of net weight 871.120 grams valued at Rs 50,50,971, 831.060 grams valued at Rs 44,29,180, and 2021.470 grams valued at Rs 1,18,05,384.
The tribunal recorded that the adjudicator had ordered absolute confiscation under Section 111(d) of the Customs Act, 1962 and imposed penalty of Rs 25,00,000 under Section 112(a) and (b), treating the gold as smuggled under Section 123.
The tribunal held that the case rested on a retracted statement of a co-operator and other statements where the makers were not offered for cross-examination despite request, contrary to Section 138B, and ordered that the appeal filed by the appellant is allowed with consequential relief.
What the record says
“The appeal filed by the appellant is allowed, with consequential relief, if any, as per law.”
CESTAT Mumbai, Customs Appeal No. 85063 of 2026, Final Order No. A/86048/2026 dated 20.08.2026 — read the full text
A peaceful economic act
Keeping and handling gold in a Mumbai shop involved no complaining victim, violence, fraud or adulteration; the state seized and sought to confiscate private stocks for suspected smuggling alone.
What we could not confirm
Full text beyond the excerpt could not be opened; weights, values, sections and outcome are taken from verbatim fragments of the order. Whether the department has appealed further could not be confirmed.