Departmental review limitation under Customs law: a time-barred Section 129D direction renders consequential proceedings unsustainable.

A departmental review direction under Section 129D of the Customs Act, 1962 must be issued within one year from the date of the adjudicating authority's order. The prescribed limitation runs up to the date on which the Commissioner's direction is made, not merely the date of initiation of review. Because the direction in this matter was issued after the statutory period, the review application was incompetent in law and the proceedings based on it had no validity. The consequential order passed pursuant to the time-barred direction was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner of Customs' direction for review under Section 129D of the Customs Act, 1962 was barred by limitation and whether the consequential order passed on that direction could be sustained.

Analysis: The prescribed period under Section 129D(3) runs from the date of the adjudicating authority's order to the date on which the Commissioner's direction is issued. On the facts, the direction was made beyond one year from the adjudication order. Since the statutory time limit was not complied with, the review application was incompetent in law and the proceedings founded on it lacked validity.

Conclusion: The review direction was time-barred and the impugned order passed in pursuance of it was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A direction for departmental review under Section 129D of the Customs Act, 1962 must be issued within one year from the date of the adjudicating authority's order, failing which the resultant proceedings are void.

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