Customs Act, 1962 · Chapter XIII: Searches, Seizure and Arrest
Section 100: Power to search suspected persons entering or leaving India, etc
(1) If the proper officer has reason to believe that any person to whom this section applies has secreted about his person, any goods liable to confiscation or any documents relating thereto, he may search that person.
(2) This section applies to the following persons, namely:—
(a) any person who has landed from or is about to board, or is on board any vessel within the Indian customs waters;
(b) any person who has landed from or is about to board, or is on board a foreign-going aircraft;
(c) any person who has got out of, or is about to get into, or is in, a vehicle, which has arrived from, or is to proceed to any place outside India;
(d) any person not included in clauses (a), (b) or (c) who has entered or is about to leave India;
(e) any person in a customs area.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 100
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.