The Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in Shalabh Agarwal And Another v. Additional Director General and Another [WRIT TAX No. 2070 of 2026 dated May 27, 2026] allowed the writ petition and held that the retention of seized cash by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (“DRI”) beyond the statutory period of six months under Section 110(2) of the Customs Act, 1962 (“the Customs Act”) was wholly without jurisdiction in the absence of a validly approved and communicated extension order, and further castigated the conduct of the DRI in transferring the seized cash to the Income Tax authorities during the pendency of writ proceedings as a “deliberate attempt to over reach and defeat the proceedings”.
