Inordinate delay in adjudication of show cause notices can vitiate excise proceedings and render revival unlawful.

Prolonged retention of show cause notices in the call book without lawful justification, followed by revival after the underlying classification dispute had already attained finality, vitiated the adjudication under Central Excise law. The Jharkhand HC held that such inordinate and unexplained delay was arbitrary, inconsistent with judicial propriety, and contrary to Section 11A(11) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. It also found that proceeding with adjudication despite a pending similar writ petition caused serious prejudice and offended fair procedure and natural justice. The show cause notices, personal hearing notices, and consequential order in original were quashed.

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Issues: Whether prolonged inaction in adjudicating show cause notices kept in the call book for nearly three decades, followed by revival and adjudication after the controversy had already attained finality, vitiated the proceedings and the consequential order in original.

Analysis: The notices were kept pending for an extraordinary period without any satisfactory justification. The earlier controversy on classification had already attained finality, and there was no legally sustainable basis to keep the notices in the call book or to revive them after such long delay. The conduct of the departmental authority in proceeding with adjudication despite the pendency of a similar writ petition was found inconsistent with judicial propriety and judicial discipline. The delay was held to be unreasonable, arbitrary, and contrary to the mandate of Section 11A(11) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The proceedings were also found to offend fair procedure and natural justice, as revival after such lapse of time caused serious prejudice.

Conclusion: The challenge succeeded. The show cause notices, notices of personal hearing, and the consequential common order in original were quashed, and the proceedings were held invalid on account of inordinate and unexplained delay.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication under the Central Excise law must be completed within a reasonable time, and where a show cause notice is kept pending for an inordinate period without lawful justification, the resulting proceedings are vitiated as arbitrary and contrary to natural justice.

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