Finality of withdrawal order under Central Excise law prevented reopening proceedings on the same show cause notice.

An Assistant Collector who has passed a concluded order withdrawing a show cause notice cannot, in the absence of statutory authority under Central Excise law, cancel that order on his own and reopen proceedings on the same notice. The earlier order was treated as a valid and final order, and the argument that it was no order in law was rejected. The appellate challenge to the Collector (Appeals)' conclusion on this point was not effectively answered, so the attempt to revive the matter was not sustained.

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Issues: Whether an Assistant Collector, after passing an order withdrawing a show cause notice, could cancel that order and reopen proceedings arising from the same notice.

Analysis: The earlier order passed by the Assistant Collector was a concluded order. Once such an order had been made, there was no statutory authority under the Central Excise law enabling the officer to cancel it on his own and initiate fresh proceedings on the same show cause notice. The challenge to the Collector (Appeals)' finding on this aspect was not met in the appeal and the contention that the earlier order was no order in the eye of law was rejected.

Conclusion: The Assistant Collector had no power to cancel his own earlier order and reopen the matter; the appeal was therefore liable to fail.

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