Scope of show cause notice: duty cannot be confirmed against persons not proceeded against, and adjudication must stay within the notice.

Duty could not be confirmed against licence holders where the show cause notice proceeded on the basis that another entity was the importer, because an adjudicating authority is confined to the charges and persons named in the notice. The record did not establish any adjudication of the liability of the entity identified as importer, and the impugned order travelled beyond the allegations set out in the notice. The confirmation of duty and penalty against the appellants was therefore legally unsustainable, and the matter was remanded for fresh decision by the jurisdictional Commissioner in accordance with law and the notice.

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Issues: Whether duty could be confirmed against the licence holders when the show cause notice identified another entity as the importer and whether the adjudicating authority could travel beyond the allegations set out in the notice.

Analysis: The notice had proceeded on the footing that a different entity was the importer, while the impugned order confirmed duty against the present appellants as licence holders. The record also did not establish any adjudication on the liability of the entity named as importer in the notice. An adjudicating authority is confined to the charges and persons brought before it in the show cause notice and cannot confirm demand against persons not proceeded against on that basis. In these circumstances, the confirmation of duty and penalty against the appellants was legally unsustainable.

Conclusion: The duty demand against the appellants could not be sustained and the matter was required to be reconsidered by the jurisdictional Commissioner after hearing the noticees.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded and the adjudication was set aside with a remand for fresh decision in accordance with law and the notice.

Ratio Decidendi: Duty cannot be confirmed against a person not proceeded against as such in the show cause notice, and adjudication must remain within the scope of the notice.

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