HC directs Jeweller to furnish ₹10 Crore Bank Guarantee for release of Gold seized by DRI

A top Delhi-based jeweller accused by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of smuggling gold has been asked by Delhi high court to furnish a whopping ₹10 crore as bank guarantee for release of some of the seized gold, silver and other items.

Partially allowing DRI’s plea, a bench comprising of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar recently asked a firm — Its My Name Pvt Limited — to give the bank guarantee along with a bond for the full value of the seized goods.

DRI has put the value of the jewellery at over Rs 28 crore and had confiscated over 51kg of it from Indira Gandhi International Airport last year. Later, it also raided and seized more jewellery from the workshop of the firm whose directors are Rahul Gupta and Gopal Gupta.

While the court allowed provisional release of the jewellery, it found no documentation for around 25kg of the total gold seized at the airport, which as per DRI was smuggled into the country.

“We are constrained, therefore, to set aside the decision of the tribunal, to allow provisional release of the gold jewellery, which was not covered by any registered bill of entry,” the bench noted, while hearing a challenge by DRI to a tribunal’s decision to release all seized gold, gold pieces, gold dust, gold jewellery and silver, seized by DRI.

As per the probe agency, the jeweller firm smuggled gold from Dubai to India by misusing provisions that allow duty free re-import of jewellery taken abroad for exhibition.

In response the company had moved the DRI tribunal seeking provisional release of the entire jewellery seized by the agency. In October last year the tribunal allowed the plea on furnishing of a bond along with a bank guarantee for Rs 1.25 crore, prompting the DRI to approach high court.

Assailing the order, DRI argued that confiscated goods can’t be released at such a low valuation and pointed out that for 25kg the company could not even furnish a bill of entry yet the tribunal had granted full relief to the jeweller.

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