Quasi-judicial show-cause notice cannot rest on extraneous considerations, including a prior Board clarification, and was quashed.

A show-cause notice demanding excise duty was held unsustainable because it was issued on the basis of a Board clarification concerning tariff classification, which the respondents accepted had already been obtained before the notice. Since the notice was founded on that clarification in the exercise of quasi-judicial power, it rested on extraneous considerations and could not stand. The notice was therefore liable to be quashed, and the petition succeeded.

---

---

Issues: Whether the show-cause notice demanding excise duty could be sustained when it was issued on the basis of a Board clarification obtained after the notice and therefore on extraneous considerations.

Analysis: The notice was founded upon a Board clarification regarding the tariff classification of the goods manufactured by the petitioners. The clarification was admittedly issued before the notice, and the respondents accepted this position in their affidavit. A show-cause notice issued in purported exercise of quasi-judicial power on such a basis could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The show-cause notice was liable to be quashed and the petition succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Quasi-judicial action cannot be sustained when it is founded on extraneous considerations, including a Board clarification relied upon as the basis for issuing the impugned notice.

---