Customs rapped for holding man's passport at Mumbai airport

The sessions court on Thursday pulled up the Customs department for intimidating a Kenyan national who had completed his sentence for carrying gold in his luggage.

Some officers from the Customs department had held the passport of accused Teddy Muthee, 26, even after he completed his sentence for failing to pay for the undeclared valuables at the Mumbai airport.

The court pulled up the Customs department for the action and asked them to return Muthee's passport.

Muthee was detained by the customs officers on March 23, 2016, based on a tip-off that he was carrying narcotics. He was instead found to be in possession 60 gold biscuits worth Rs 2.24 crore.

Muthee was charged and prosecuted under the Customs Act, and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a year on two counts and another rigorous imprisonment for six months with a total fine of Rs 19,000.

However, after completion of the sentence, the customs officers refused to hand over his passport, saying the recovery process was incomplete.

A lower court questioned the customs' decision of holding Muthee's passport. Aggrieved, the Customs department approached the appeal court and challenged the order. However, the session's court also upheld the lower court's decision and maintained that the customs can opt some other way to get their penalty back without withholding the document of the accused.