Call book delay in excise proceedings breached natural justice and led to quashing of the notices and adjudication order.

Excise adjudication under Section 11A must be concluded within the statutory framework, and keeping show cause proceedings in the call book for years without notice to the assessee was inconsistent with that scheme and the departmental instructions invoked. The inordinate, unexplained delay, combined with lack of intimation that the matter remained pending, was found to breach natural justice and cause serious prejudice where the unit had closed and relevant evidence and witnesses were no longer available. On that basis, revival of the proceedings was held unlawful and arbitrary, and the show cause notices and order-in-original were quashed.

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Issues: Whether the show cause notices and the consequential order-in-original could be sustained when the excise proceedings were kept in the call book for many years without notice to the assessee and were revived after an inordinate delay, allegedly in breach of natural justice.

Analysis: The proceedings under Section 11A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 are adjudicatory in nature and must be concluded within the time frame envisaged by the statute as far as possible. Keeping matters in the call book for years together, without informing the noticee, was held to be inconsistent with the statutory scheme and beyond the competence of the departmental instructions relied upon. The long and unexplained delay, coupled with the absence of notice regarding the pendency of the matter, was found to cause serious prejudice because the assessee's unit had closed and relevant evidence and witnesses were no longer available.

Conclusion: The revival of the proceedings was held to be unlawful and arbitrary, and the show cause notices as well as the order-in-original were quashed.

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