2012 (10) TMI 424 - HC - Customs

Maintainability of Writ petition writ challenging the Show Cause Notice - Held that - Customs Officer assigned with specific functions of assessment and re-assessment in jurisdictional area where goods imported alone are competent to issue Show Cause Notice under Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 as proper officer and Collector of Customs (Preventive) had not been assigned such functions. Therefore it is submitted that the impugned order is issued by a Preventive Officer and hence the said Show Cause Notice is itself void abinitio - Court is not inclined to impugned the Show Cause Notice especially when the Respondents are seized of the matter and the Petitioner has also given its own inputs in coming to the proper conclusion which has been permitted by the earlier Division Bench of this Court - writ petition dismissed

Summary

Issues:
Challenge to Show Cause Notice under Customs Act, 1962; Competency of Preventive Officer to issue Show Cause Notice; Validity of Show Cause Notice; Interpretation of Supreme Court judgment in Commissioner of Customs v. Sayed Ali; Notification empowering Preventive Officers to issue notices under Customs Act.

Analysis:
The judgment involves a challenge to a Show Cause Notice issued under the Customs Act, 1962. The Petitioner had filed writ petitions seeking permission to draw samples and secure test reports for detained goods. The Court observed that the Petitioner could challenge the assessment if aggrieved, without the need to release the goods pending provisional assessment. Subsequently, the Petitioner sought to challenge the original Show Cause Notice based on a favorable test report from MSME Testing Centre, claiming the goods were Non-Alloy Steel Slabs.

The Petitioner argued that the Show Cause Notice was void ab initio as it was issued by a Preventive Officer, not the proper officer designated for assessment and reassessment under the Customs Act. They cited a Supreme Court judgment and a subsequent government notification empowering Preventive Officers to issue such notices. However, the Court declined to impugn the Show Cause Notice, deferring to the Respondents to make a decision based on the inputs provided by the Petitioner and the previous Division Bench's ruling.

The Court emphasized that the Respondents should pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law promptly. The Counsel for the Customs Department did not object to this course of action. Ultimately, the writ petition was dismissed, and the Respondent was directed to communicate the outcome to the Petitioner without any costs incurred. The related miscellaneous petitions were also closed, bringing the matter to a conclusion.