Confiscation cannot be sustained on a ground not mentioned in the show-cause notice or adjudication.

An appellate order cannot sustain confiscation on a ground not invoked in the show-cause notice or relied on in adjudication. Here, the notice alleged contravention under specified provisions, but the appellate authority upheld confiscation under a different clause concerning mismatch in value or material particulars with the export entry. Because the exporter was not put on notice of that basis, the new ground could not lawfully support the confiscation. The appellate order was therefore unsustainable and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the appellate order was unsustainable for travelling beyond the show-cause notice by sustaining confiscation under a provision not invoked in the notice or adjudication.

Analysis: The show-cause notice proposed confiscation and penal consequences on the basis of alleged contravention under specified provisions, but the appellate authority upheld confiscation under a different clause dealing with goods not corresponding in value or material particulars with the export entry. That ground was neither invoked in the notice nor relied upon in the adjudication order, and the exporter had not been put to notice of that basis of confiscation. An order resting on a new and unnotified ground cannot be sustained.

Conclusion: The appellate order was unsustainable and was set aside; the appeal was allowed in favour of the appellant.

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