Valid assignment of show cause notice is essential; order without jurisdiction was set aside.

An adjudication order passed without a valid assignment of the show cause notice to the deciding Commissioner was held unsustainable. The notice had been assigned to another Commissioner, and the notification relied on by the adjudicating Commissioner did not establish any lawful assignment to him. The later withdrawal of the earlier appointed adjudicating Commissioner did not cure the defect because no other competent authority had been validly appointed to decide the notice. The impugned order was therefore without jurisdiction and was set aside, with the appeals allowed.

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Issues: Whether the impugned adjudication order was passed by an lacking jurisdiction to adjudicate the show cause notice.

Analysis: The show cause notice had been assigned for adjudication to another Commissioner, and the notification relied upon by the adjudicating Commissioner did not show that the notice stood assigned to him for decision. In the absence of any valid assignment of the notice to the Commissioner of Customs (Import), Nhava Sheva, the order could not be sustained. The subsequent withdrawal of the earlier appointed adjudicating Commissioner did not cure the defect, as no other adjudicating authority had been validly appointed to decide the notice.

Conclusion: The impugned order was without jurisdiction and was set aside. The appeals were allowed.

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