Extension request under customs notification requires a speaking order and hearing before rejection; remand ordered.

Rejection of an extension request under Notification No. 158/95-Cus required a fresh speaking order by the jurisdictional Commissioner, after granting the applicants a hearing. Because the request was conveyed only by letter, without a reasoned order and without affording an opportunity of hearing, the rejection was procedurally defective. The order was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh decision in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the rejection of the request for extension of time under Notification No. 158/95-Cus without a speaking order and without affording an opportunity of hearing was sustainable.

Analysis: The request for extension was conveyed only through a letter issued in pursuance of the appellate direction, but the jurisdictional Commissioner was required to decide the matter afresh by a speaking order. Since no speaking order was passed and the applicants were not heard before rejection of the request, the decision suffered from procedural infirmity and could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs for fresh decision after affording an opportunity of hearing.

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