In Brief
A man was caught smuggling gold and faced a Rs. 75 lakh customs penalty. He appealed but did not pre-deposit the required amount. The Customs Tribunal and High Court dismissed his appeal. The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal, holding that because the amendment to the Customs Act (which reduced pre-deposit from 100% to 7.5%) became law in August 2014, his 2015 penalty and 2017 appeal fell under the new rules. Even though the incident occurred before the amendment, he could not claim the old rule's discretionary waiver while paying the new rule's lower deposit percentage. The Court extended two months to comply but dismissed the appeal.
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