HC says body massager can’t be categorised as adult sex toy and prohibited for import

Mumbai: A body massager cannot be categorised as an adult sex toy and hence cannot be included in the list of items prohibited for import, the Bombay High Court has said. A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Kishor Sant on Wednesday quashed an order passed by the Customs department confiscating consignments containing body massagers.

The Commissioner of Customs had confiscated the goods claiming that the body massagers could be used as adult sex toys and such items are prohibited for import. Opining that a body massager could be used as an adult sex toy was clearly the figment of imagination of the Commissioner of Customs, the HC said.

It dismissed a petition filed by the Commissioner of Customs, challenging a May 2023 order passed by the Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal whereby the Custom department’s order confiscating consignments containing body massagers was set aside. The Commissioner of Customs as adjudicating officer had in April 2022 refused to clear the consignment containing body massagers noting that they were adult sex toys and hence prohibited for import as per the Customs notification issued in January 1964.