Mandatory time limit for customs broker show cause notice: delayed issuance beyond ninety days made the proceedings invalid.

A show cause notice under Regulation 20(1) of the Customs Broker Licensing Regulations, 2013 was issued beyond the prescribed ninety-day period counted from receipt of the offence report. The Delhi High Court treated that time limit as mandatory, following earlier coordinate bench rulings, and held that breach of it rendered the notice invalid. Because the notice was time-barred, the consequential suspension order could not be sustained and became ineffective and infructuous. The court also viewed the proposed amendment to the definition of "offence report" as consistent with the same construction. The challenge succeeded on limitation alone.

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Issues: Whether the show cause notice issued under Regulation 20(1) of the Customs Broker Licensing Regulations, 2013 was barred by limitation for having been issued beyond ninety days from the date of receipt of the offence report, and whether the consequential suspension order could survive.

Analysis: The regulation prescribed issuance of notice within ninety days from the date of receipt of an offence report. The Court followed its earlier coordinate bench decisions holding the time limit to be mandatory and sacrosanct. It accepted that the suspension and earlier prohibition action were founded on the relevant investigation/offence report, and held that the later show cause notice was issued after expiry of the prescribed period. The proposed amendment definition of offence report was also treated as supporting the same construction. The challenge was accepted on limitation and the notice was quashed on that technical ground alone.

Conclusion: The show cause notice under Regulation 20(1) was held to be time-barred and invalid, and the order confirming suspension became ineffective and infructuous.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the Customs Broker Licensing Regulations prescribe a notice to be issued within a fixed period from receipt of the offence report, that time limit is mandatory and breach of it renders the proceedings void.

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