Customs Act, 1962 — Chapter VII: Clearance of Imported Goods and Export Goods
45. Restrictions on custody and removal of imported goods
- Save as otherwise provided by law, all imported goods unloaded in a customs area shall remain in the custody of a person approved by the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs until cleared for home consumption, warehoused, or transhipped under Chapter VIII.
- The custodian shall (a) keep a record of such goods and send a copy to the proper officer; (b) not permit their removal from the customs area or other dealing except under the proper officer’s written permission.
- Notwithstanding any other law, if imported goods are pilfered after unloading in a customs area while in such custody, the custodian is liable to pay duty on those goods at the rate prevailing on the date the arrival/import manifest or import report was delivered for the conveyance in which they were carried.
