Improper service of customs notice and delayed demand can bar adjudication by limitation under the Customs Act.

Where a customs show cause notice is not served in the manner prescribed under section 153 and is only affixed on the Customs Notice Board, service cannot be presumed against the importer absent a recorded factual basis. As the clearance had already been completed and the demand was confirmed after expiry of the statutory period under the proviso to section 28(1), the customs duty demand was held barred by limitation. The adjudication order was therefore liable to be set aside, and the duty demand did not survive.

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Issues: Whether the demand of customs duty was barred by limitation in the absence of proper service of the show cause notice under the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The notice was not despatched to the appellant in the ordinary manner contemplated by section 153(a) of the Customs Act, 1962 and was instead displayed on the Customs Notice Board under section 153(b). The clearance had been completed long before the notice was so displayed, and the demand was sought to be confirmed after the expiry of the period prescribed by the proviso to section 28(1). The plea that service on the clearing agent must be presumed was not accepted, as no such fact was recorded in the adjudication order.

Conclusion: The demand was barred by limitation and the impugned order was liable to be set aside.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded on the limitation objection and the duty demand did not survive.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the show cause notice is not duly served in the manner prescribed and the demand is raised beyond the statutory period, the adjudication is barred by limitation.

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