Beauty

How UAE-based expat’s gold chain sparked landmark court judgment on jewellery seizures at Indian airports

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On April 11, 2025

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When a UAE-based Indian expat landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport around this time last year, he had no idea that his family trip would turn into a year-long legal battle or that it would help bring relief to thousands of fellow Non-Resident Indians. It began with a wedding in Kerala and a 28-gram gold chain.

According to court records, the expat was returning home on April 9, 2024 to attend a relative’s wedding. But just as he stepped into the green channel at Terminal 3, he was stopped by customs officers who questioned him about the gold chain he was wearing.
Despite his explanations that the necklace was a personal item, worn regularly and not new, officials seized it on the grounds that it exceeded the allowance under India’s baggage rules. The chain, weighing 28 grams, was confiscated.

He submitted a written statement that very day and followed up with a detailed letter in May, explaining he was eligible under the baggage rules and that the item was clearly used, not commercial. It didn’t help.

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On November 7, 2024, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at Delhi airport passed an order — the chain would not be returned unless the expat paid a fine of Rs18,000 (Dh770) plus a redemption fee of Rs25,000 (Dh1,070) for re-exporting it back to the UAE.

The man refused to accept the ruling and filed a petition in the Delhi High Court under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution.
In court, his lawyer submitted photographs of him wearing the gold chain as part of his daily attire, along with a copy of the wedding invitation dated April 21, 2024. The wedding was real. The chain was real. And so, argued the counsel, was the injustice.

The Delhi High Court agreed. In its ruling, justices Prathiba M. Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta noted that the man was a bona fide traveller, not someone trying to evade customs duty. They acknowledged that the baggage rules, last updated in 2016, no longer reflect the reality of soaring gold prices and international travel habits.

The court quashed the Customs Department’s order, waived all penalties and fines, and directed officials to return the seized jewellery within two weeks, after verifying the identity of the passenger or his authorised representative.

Media reports and court filings suggest the case was among more than 30 petitions that the Delhi High Court recently considered while delivering its broader directive to stop the routine harassment of NRIs over personal jewellery at Indian airports.

Just last week, the same court came down heavily on customs officials in another case involving a woman, Pooja Seth, whose jewellery was seized after she returned from a trip to Bangkok.

Seth, who had travelled with her husband and children to attend a wedding, was allegedly intercepted at Delhi airport on January 20. Customs officers reportedly confiscated 190 grams of gold jewellery, including heirloom bangles and a chain gifted by her grandmother, despite her providing old photographs and a copy of the will.

The court called the detention “completely unjustified” and ordered that all the jewellery be returned within two working days, without any storage charges. It also imposed a cost of Rs25,000 on the Customs Department and recommended disciplinary action against officials who allegedly coerced Seth into signing a statement waiving her right to a hearing.

“With multiple such rulings now reinforcing passengers’ rights, it’s becoming increasingly clear that wearing old or gifted jewellery should not subject travellers to suspicion, seizure, or stress,” said a lawyer.

The March 27 ruling has since become a landmark for Indian expats, particularly those in Gulf countries like the UAE, who frequently travel home during weddings and festivals. Several travellers have reported being held up at Indian airports despite wearing long-used ornaments.

“I was stopped at Lucknow airport and taken aside for questioning, even though the bangles I was wearing belonged to my grandmother,” said Maria, a Dubai resident. Another passenger who flew into Kochi from Sharjah said he no longer carries real jewellery during family visits.

“You’re made to feel like a criminal for wearing your own wedding necklace.” Under the existing baggage rules, Indian citizens returning after more than a year abroad are allowed to bring duty-free gold jewellery within certain value limits up to 40 grams for women and 20 grams for men, provided the value does not exceed the prescribed cap.

But those rules don’t clearly address inherited or long-worn personal jewellery, leaving many travellers vulnerable to misinterpretation and overreach. Thanks to a few who chose to fight back, that may finally be changing.