Quantified customs demand treated as notice of demand, bringing the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme exclusion into play.

A quantified customs demand requiring payment within three days was treated as a notice of demand under the Customs Act for purposes of the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998. Because the communication specifically demanded duty and interest and left no ambiguity about payment, it fell within the scheme's exclusionary framework for cases where a notice of demand under an indirect tax enactment had been issued. The notice date of 31-3-1998 was within the relevant cut-off, so the exception in Section 95(ii)(b) applied and the scheme remained applicable. The challenge to that applicability therefore failed, and the order sustaining the scheme's application was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 applied where a notice dated 31-3-1998 demanded customs duty with interest and required payment within three days, thereby constituting a notice of demand under the indirect tax enactment.

Analysis: The scheme excluded cases where no show cause notice or notice of demand under an indirect tax enactment had been issued. The demand letter specifically quantified the duty and interest and required immediate payment, leaving no scope to treat it as anything other than a notice of demand under the Customs Act. Since the notice was issued on 31-3-1998, it fell within the relevant cut-off contemplated by the scheme and attracted the exception in Section 95(ii)(b).

Conclusion: The scheme was applicable to the case, and the challenge to its applicability failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the order holding the scheme applicable was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: A communication that specifically demands quantified customs duty with interest and requires payment within a fixed time operates as a notice of demand for the purpose of exclusionary provisions in the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998.

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