Show-cause notice scope cannot be exceeded when a final VCES rejection is revisited; remand ordered for fresh merits decision.

An adjudicating authority cannot travel beyond the scope of a show-cause notice by treating a prior VCES rejection as finally determinative when that rejection had already attained finality and was separately appealable. The authority was required to confine its decision to the merits of the notice itself. Because the impugned order revisited the VCES issue instead of deciding the notice afresh, it was unsustainable and was set aside, with the matter remanded for fresh adjudication on the show-cause notice merits.

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Issues: Whether the adjudicating authority could travel beyond the scope of the show-cause notice by treating the VCES rejection as final and whether the matter required remand for decision on the merits of the show-cause notice.

Analysis: The order rejecting the VCES application had already attained finality and was appealable. In that situation, the adjudicating authority was required to confine itself to the show-cause notice and decide the matter on its own merits. Since the impugned order went beyond the notice by considering the VCES issue again, it was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the adjudicating authority to decide the show-cause notice afresh on its own merits.

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