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In Radhika Agarwal v. Union of India, 2025 INSC 272, decided on 27 February 2025, the Supreme Court of India upheld the relevant Customs Act and GST Act arrest provisions. It also clarified that officers may use those powers only when the statutory conditions are met and must follow safeguards protecting the person arrested. The ruling does not give officers an unrestricted power to arrest anyone suspected of a tax or customs violation.
What the Supreme Court decided
A three-judge bench rejected constitutional challenges to the relevant arrest powers under the Customs Act, 1962 and the GST Acts. The principal opinion, by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice M. M. Sundresh, considered the statutory framework and its development, including Om Prakash v. Union of India. Justice Bela M. Trivedi delivered a separate opinion.
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For GST, the Court held that Parliament’s power to levy and collect GST under Article 246-A includes authority to create ancillary measures to address evasion, including relevant summons, arrest and prosecution provisions. It therefore rejected the constitutional challenge to Sections 69 and 70 of the GST Acts.
The decision’s practical meaning is conditional: arrest authority exists, but the applicable offence, statutory threshold, decision-maker and procedure matter. Customs and GST have distinct arrest tests and should not be treated as if they use identical wording or conditions.
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How the arrest thresholds differ
| Issue | Customs Act | GST Acts |
|---|---|---|
| Who exercises the power | An empowered customs officer under Section 104(1). | The Commissioner, exercising the relevant statutory power. |
| Required basis | “Reasons to believe” that the person committed a specified offence. The Court said this requires sufficient cause, not mere suspicion, and is a higher threshold than the “reasonable suspicion” formulation it discussed under the general arrest provision. | Recorded reasons to believe, grounded in material and evidence, that the person committed the relevant non-bailable offence and that the conditions under Section 132(5) are met. |
| What the reasons must address | The reasons must explain why arrest is justified in the particular case, including the offence’s classification and how any applicable monetary threshold is met. Where relevant, the explanation should engage with the computation and factors such as seized goods. | The reasons must identify the supporting material and evidence. Arrest cannot be used simply to investigate whether the statutory arrest conditions exist. |
Customs: explain the offence and any applicable threshold
Section 104(1) does not make suspicion alone enough. The empowered officer’s reasons to believe must connect the available facts to a specified Customs Act offence and explain why arrest is justified. The Court also said the reasoning should address whether the offence is bailable or non-bailable, cognizable or non-cognizable, and whether an applicable monetary threshold is met.
The relevant threshold depends on the statutory provision and the case’s facts. A threshold should not be stated or applied without checking the provision and explaining how the figures were reached; the Court referred to relevant factors such as seized goods.
GST: establish the statutory conditions before arrest
For GST, the Commissioner’s recorded satisfaction must concern the relevant non-bailable offence and the conditions in Section 132(5). The reasons must be tied to evidence and material, not suspicion alone. The Court rejected using arrest as a way to find out whether the conditions for arrest are present.
A completed tax assessment is not invariably a prerequisite. The Court discussed arrest before a final assessment where the relevant offence and tax amount can be ascertained with sufficient certainty and the Commissioner records explicit reasons linked to evidence. Whether that standard is met depends on the circumstances; neither “an assessment is always required” nor “tax quantification never matters” captures the ruling.
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Safeguards before and after arrest
The Court addressed procedural protections under the applicable statutes, Code-based requirements and official instructions. The precise source of a duty differs across the legal frameworks, so the safeguards should not be presented as though every requirement comes from one identical statutory section.
Customs arrests
- The arrested person must be informed of the grounds of arrest.
- The arresting officer’s identity must be established through the applicable Code-based procedure, and a person nominated by the arrestee must be notified.
- Officers must keep records of statutory functions, including the informant, the person alleged to have violated the law, information received, time of arrest, seizure details and statements recorded during offence detection.
- When the arrestee is produced before a Magistrate, the Magistrate must check the specified compliance.
GST arrests
- The judgment addresses service of an arrest memo.
- A person nominated or authorized by the arrested person must be informed, under the relevant procedures and official instructions discussed by the Court.
- The arrest date and time must be recorded.
These duties sit within the constitutional protections for personal liberty under Articles 21 and 22. They are not merely paperwork: they document the basis and timing of official action and help make compliance reviewable.
Anticipatory bail may be sought before an FIR
A person with a reasonable, fact-based apprehension of arrest may apply for anticipatory bail under the Code. The Supreme Court said a prior FIR is not an indispensable prerequisite where the facts supporting that apprehension are clear. The decision does not make anticipatory bail automatic; the application remains dependent on its facts and the applicable law.
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What judicial review covers
In her separate opinion, Justice Trivedi described judicial review of a challenged arrest as a check on whether the officer was authorized, the required material and safeguards existed, and the grounds were communicated as required. She cautioned against treating that review as a full appeal in which a court reweighs the underlying facts or reassesses their sufficiency and correctness.
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That distinction preserves judicial oversight while describing its role in arrests under special statutes: the review examines authority and legal compliance rather than simply substituting a court’s view of the evidence for the officer’s.
Why the ruling is not blanket approval of arrests
The Court rejected the constitutional challenge to the provisions and recognized the relevant statutory arrest authority, but clarified the conditions on its use. The result is not that every alleged customs or GST violation permits arrest. The officer, offence, evidentiary basis, statutory conditions and required procedure must be assessed under the relevant law in the particular case.
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