Invalid customs notice cannot be revived by remand for fresh adjudication after being held contrary to statutory requirements.

A statutory show cause notice found invalid for non-compliance with Section 28 of the Customs Act could not be preserved by an appellate direction for issuance of a fresh notice and re-adjudication. Once the proceedings were held bad in law, the appellate authority's role was limited to testing the legality of the impugned action, not reviving it through a remand for a new notice. The direction for fresh adjudication was therefore unsustainable and was expunged, with complete relief granted to the assessee.

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Issues: Whether, after holding the show cause notice invalid for non-compliance with the mandatory requirements of Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962, the appellate authority could direct issuance of a fresh notice and remand the matter for re-adjudication.

Analysis: The notice had already been found to be contrary to the statutory requirements and therefore invalid. Once the proceedings themselves were held to be bad in law, the appellate authority's function was confined to determining the correctness of those proceedings. A direction to the lower authority to issue a fresh show cause notice and re-agitate the matter was beyond the scope of appellate power and was inconsistent with the principle that an invalid proceeding cannot be revived through fresh adjudicatory directions.

Conclusion: The direction for issuance of a fresh show cause notice was not sustainable and was expunged. The appeal was allowed with consequential relief.

Final Conclusion: The invalidation of the notice resulted in the proceedings being set aside in full, and the assessee obtained complete relief against the impugned direction for fresh adjudication.

Ratio Decidendi: Once a statutory notice is held invalid, the appellate authority cannot sustain the proceedings by directing a fresh notice or remand for re-adjudication; the only legal consequence is setting aside the impugned action.

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