Repeated adjudication on the same show cause notice is void ab initio when the notice has already been finally decided.

Where a show cause notice has already been finally adjudicated and dropped, a later order passed on the same notice, involving the same duty demand and import licence particulars, has no legal effect because the same cause of action cannot be adjudicated twice. The second adjudication was therefore void ab initio and unsustainable as a nullity.

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Issues: Whether a second order passed on the same show cause notice was a nullity and liable to be set aside.

Analysis: The same show cause notice, duty demand, and import licence particulars were common to both orders. The notice had already been adjudicated and dropped by one Commissioner, and the later order again proceeded on the same notice. A notice cannot be adjudicated twice on the same cause of action.

Conclusion: The second adjudication was void ab initio and the impugned order was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the same show cause notice has already been finally adjudicated, a subsequent order on that very notice is without legal effect and liable to be treated as a nullity.

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