The Aryavarth Express
Agency(Bombay): The Bombay High Court has quashed an order by the Customs department that confiscated consignments containing body massagers, ruling that such devices cannot be categorized as prohibited adult sex toys. A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Kishor Sant stated that the Customs Commissioner’s perception of body massagers as potential adult toys was clearly a “figment of imagination.”
The court dismissed a petition filed by the Commissioner of Customs, challenging a previous order by the Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal that had set aside the confiscation of the massager consignments. In April 2022, the Customs Commissioner had refused to clear the consignment, noting that the body massagers were adult sex toys prohibited for import under a 1964 notification.
However, the High Court criticized the Commissioner’s findings as “peculiar,” “astonishing,” and “too far-fetched,” stating that reducing body massagers to perceived uses as adult toys was “clearly the figment of the Commissioner’s imagination and/or his personal perception.”
The court noted that body massagers are openly traded in domestic markets and are not regarded as prohibited items. It further stated that the Commissioner had failed to act as a prudent official expected to decide reasonably on the clearance of goods.
The Customs Commissioner had relied on Section 292(2) of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits the import of obscene materials like books, pamphlets, or drawings that are lascivious or appeal to prurient interests. However, the court dismissed this comparison, stating that machines like massagers cannot be equated with such items.
Aggrieved by the Commissioner’s order, the owners of the consignment had approached the tribunal, which severely criticized the decision and described the categorization of body massagers as adult sex toys as “purely the officer’s imagination.”
The Commissioner had claimed to have consulted experts who opined that the body massagers could be subjected to other uses. However, the court stated that merely because goods could have alternative uses cannot be the test to declare them prohibited.
By dismissing the Customs Commissioner’s petition and upholding the tribunal’s order, the Bombay High Court has clarified that body massagers cannot be arbitrarily classified as prohibited adult sex toys, reaffirming the need for reasoned and prudent decision-making by officials regarding import clearances.