Appeal to High Court
Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 deals with appeal to High Court. An appeal shall lie to the High Court from every order passed in appeal by the Appellate Tribunal on or after the 1st day of July, 2003 (not being an order relating, among other things, to the determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty of customs or to the value of goods for The Act came into force on 01 Feb 1963.
1 [130. Appeal to High Court.--(1) An appeal shall lie to the High Court from every order passed in appeal by the Appellate Tribunal on or after the 1st day of July, 2003 (not being an order relating, among other things, to the determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty of customs or to the value of goods for the purposes of assessment), if the High Court is satisfied that the case involves a substantial question of law.
(2) The 2 [Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs] or the other party aggrieved by any order passed by the Appellate Tribunal may file an appeal to the High Court and such appeal under this sub-section shall be--
(a) filed within one hundred and eighty days from the date on which the order appealed against is received by the 2 [Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs] or the other party;
(b) accompanied by a fee of two hundred rupees where such appeal is filed by the other party;
(c) in the form of a memorandum of appeal precisely stating therein the substantial question of law involved.
3 [(2A) The High Court may admit an appeal after the expiry of the period of one hundred and eighty days referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (2), if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing the same within that period.]
(3) Where the High Court is satisfied that a substantial question of law is involved in any case, it shall formulate that question.
(4) The appeal shall be heard only on the question so formulated, and the respondents shall, at the hearing of the appeal, be allowed to argue that the case does not involve such question:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to take away or abridge the power of the Court to hear, for reasons to be recorded, the appeal on any other substantial question of law not formulated by it, if it is satisfied that the case involves such question.
(5) The High Court shall decide the question of law so formulated and deliver such judgment thereon containing the grounds on which such decision is founded and may award such cost as it deems fit.
(6) The High Court may determine any issue which--
(a) has not been determined by the Appellate Tribunal; or
(b) has been wrongly determined by the Appellate Tribunal, by reason of a decision on such question of law as is referred to in sub-section (1).
(7) When an appeal has been filed before the High Court, it shall be heard by a bench of not less than two Judges of the High Court, and shall be decided in accordance with the opinion of such Judges or of the majority, if any, of such Judges.
(8) Where there is no such majority, the Judges shall state the point of law upon which they differ and the case shall, then, be heard upon that point only by one or more of the other Judges of the High Court and such point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the Judges who have heard the case including those who first heard it.
(9) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) relating to appeals to the High Court shall, as far as may be, apply in the case of appeals under this section.]
Section 130, The Customs Act, 1962 (Act 52 of 1962).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Referred to by 6
- s. 129A Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
- s. 129B Orders of Appellate Tribunal
- s. 130C Case before High Court to be heard by not less than two judges
- s. 130D Decision of High Court or Supreme Court on the case stated
- s. 130E Appeal to Supreme Court
- s. 131B Transfer of certain pending proceedings and transitional provisions
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Union of India vs G. Baskar
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
While Parliament has constitutional power to transfer appellate jurisdiction from High Courts to tribunals under Articles 246, 247 and subject to Article 323B, such transfer is limited by the basic structure of the Constitution. The core judicial function of deciding substantial questions of law is vested exclusively in superior courts of record (High Courts and Supreme Court) and cannot be transferred to any other body, including tribunals. When any judicial function is transferred to a tribunal, the tribunal must possess the same independence, security of tenure, qualification requirements, and appointment procedures as the court being substituted. Any tribunal exercising such transferred jurisdiction must have members who are judicially trained and experienced in law, and must be insulated from executive control. The separation of powers doctrine, rule of law, and judicial review are inviolable basic structural features of the Constitution that cannot be infringed by legislation. Therefore, the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005, to the extent it transfers the appellate jurisdiction to decide substantial questions of law from High Courts to the National Tax Tribunal, and to the extent Sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 13 do not provide for requisite independence and qualification safeguards, is unconstitutional and void.
On this section: Appeal from Customs Appellate Tribunal to High Court; substantially similar provision to Section 260A
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Chandna Impex P. LTD vs Commr. of Customs
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
A question regarding the jurisdiction of the authority issuing a show cause notice under the Customs Act (specifically whether the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Additional Director General is a proper officer under Section 28) constitutes a substantial question of law that must be examined on appeal by the High Court with reasoned orders. The High Court cannot dismiss statutory appeals by non-speaking orders that merely endorse lower court reasoning without independent application of mind. Where such a jurisdictional question is raised but not properly examined by the High Court, it is appropriate for the Supreme Court to remand the matter to the Tribunal for fresh adjudication rather than remit to the High Court first, particularly when new precedent (Sayed Ali) has emerged that was not available during the original Tribunal hearing, to avoid prolongation of litigation.
On this section: Appeal To High Court On Substantial Questions Of Law From Tribunal Orders
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… the domain of the Tribunal to 11 have passed the order in the nature which is impugned in this appeal, we refrain from commenting further on the order, since it meets the interest of justice. It is not always mandatory that while this Court exercises its appellate powers under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962, it should interfere with the order, though not legal, which meets the interest of justice. As an upshot of our discussion as above, we are of the view that no substantial question of law arises for consideration in this appeal. The appellant has not made out a case for entertaining the …
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… Ltd., F.No.1, No.27/e, Mazagaon Terrace, 27, Nesbit Road, Mazagaon, Mumbai - 400 010. ... Respondent in C.M.A.(MD)No.896 of 2024 Prayer in C.M.A.(MD)No.895 of 2024: Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 praying to allow the appeal by setting aside the Final Order No.40011/2018 dated 03.01.2018 passed by the CESTAT. > Prayer in C.M.A.(MD)No.896 of 2024: Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 praying to allow the appeal by setting aside the Final Order …
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… Joseph Kodianthara appearing on behalf of the respondents, as regards the maintainability of these appeals before this Court. In particular, he refers to Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 which specifically deals with the nature of the appeals that can be maintained before the High Court against an order passed in appeal by the Appellate Tribunal. The provision makes it abundantly clear that if the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal is an order relating, among other …
Questions about Section 130
What have the courts held on Section 130 of the Customs Act?
Union of India vs G. Baskar (26 Sep 2014) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Appeal from Customs Appellate Tribunal to High Court; substantially similar provision to Section 260A. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, all of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2011 to 2014.
How do I find court cases under Section 130 of the Customs Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Customs Act 1962 130, section 130 Customs Act 1962, section 130 of the Customs Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Union of India vs G. Baskar (26 Sep 2014).
What should I read with Section 130 of the Customs Act, and has it changed?
6 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it.
When did Section 130 of the Customs Act come into force?
Section 130 of the Customs Act, cited as Customs Act 1962 130, came into force on 01 Feb 1963, having been enacted on 13 Dec 1962. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
Other sections of this Act
- 28. Recovery of duties not levied or not paid or short-levied or short-paid or erroneously refunded2145 words
- 2. Definitions1638 words
- 129A. Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal1170 words
- 27. Claim for refund of duty1060 words
- 127C. Procedure on receipt of an application under section 127B1056 words
- 138C. Admissibility of micro films, facsimile copies of documents and computer print outs as documents and as evidence872 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.