Procedural fairness in customs adjudication requires deferring show cause notice action until the related appeal is decided.

Show cause notice adjudication may be deferred where a related appeal is already heard and judgment is reserved, to avoid prejudice and preserve procedural fairness. The authority was directed to proceed only after the Tribunal pronounced its order, with two weeks allowed thereafter for the final reply and a personal hearing before final adjudication. The time spent in the Tribunal proceedings was excluded from the statutory adjudication period under the Customs Act, so the pending appeal did not count against the limitation timeline.

---

---

Issues: Whether the adjudicating authority should be restrained from concluding the show cause notice proceedings until the appeal pending before the Tribunal is decided, and whether the time spent before the Tribunal should be excluded while computing the statutory period for adjudication.

Analysis: The Tribunal had already heard the appeal and reserved judgment. To avoid prejudice to the petitioner and to maintain procedural fairness, the hearing on the show cause notice was directed to be deferred until the Tribunal pronounced its order. The Court further granted two weeks thereafter to file the final reply and permitted the adjudicating authority to proceed only after affording personal hearing. The period spent in the appeal before the Tribunal was directed not to be counted towards the statutory period under Section 28(9) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Outcome: Interim protection was granted in favour of the petitioner by deferring adjudication till disposal of the appeal and by excluding the Tribunal proceedings period from the statutory timeline.

---