Competence of show cause notices determines validity of recovery and penalty proceedings when jurisdictional objection is left undecided.

Show cause notices issued by a Range Superintendent were challenged as incompetent under the applicable Board circular, which was said to reserve that power to the Assistant Collector. The objection went to the root of the proceedings because any recovery or penalty founded on invalid notices could not be sustained. The adjudicating authority failed to record a finding on this jurisdictional issue, creating a material defect in the decision-making process. The order was therefore unsustainable for non-consideration of the competence objection, and the matter required fresh adjudication after deciding that issue.

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Issues: Whether show cause notices issued by the Range Superintendent were incompetent and, if so, whether the adjudication founded on those notices could be sustained.

Analysis: The appellants had specifically objected that, under the Board's circular, the show cause notices could be issued only by the Assistant Collector. That plea went to the root of the proceedings because, if the notices were invalidly issued by an incompetent officer, the ensuing recovery and penalty action could not stand. The adjudicating authority failed to record any finding on this jurisdictional objection, resulting in a material omission in the decision-making process.

Conclusion: The order was unsustainable for non-consideration of the objection to the competence of the issuing authority, and the matter required fresh adjudication after deciding that issue.

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