Quashed show cause notice cannot be revived once finality is reached; adjudicating authority may validly discharge the proceeding.

Once a show cause notice has been quashed by the High Court and the department's challenge to that quashing has failed, the foundational proceeding no longer survives. In that situation, there is no live controversy for the adjudicating authority to examine, and the Commissioner may validly discharge the notice without going into its merits. The text notes that the subsequent appeal could not succeed because the prior quashing had attained finality and further adjudication had become unnecessary.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner was justified in discharging the show cause notice after it had already been quashed by the High Court and the Department's challenge to that quashing had failed.

Analysis: Once the show cause notice stood quashed by the High Court, the foundational proceeding itself ceased to exist. In that situation, there was no live controversy left for adjudication before the Commissioner. The subsequent dismissal of the Department's appeal against the High Court's judgment reinforced that position, leaving no scope to examine the merits of the notice independently.

Conclusion: The discharge of the show cause notice was justified and no illegality was committed by the Commissioner.

Final Conclusion: The appeal could not succeed because the adjudication had been rendered unnecessary by the prior quashing of the notice.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the very show cause notice has been quashed and that quashing has attained finality, the adjudicating authority has nothing left to decide and may validly discharge the proceeding.

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