Customs clearance under Section 47 cannot be reopened by fresh adjudication; challenge lies through the appellate mechanism instead.

Goods cleared for home consumption under Section 47 of the Customs Act could not be subjected to a second adjudication by the Additional Collector on the same matter. The proper course for challenging the earlier clearance order was the appellate mechanism under Section 129D(2), not a fresh adjudication. The later order was therefore without jurisdiction and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the Additional Collector of Customs had jurisdiction to pass an adjudication order after the goods had already been cleared for home consumption under Section 47 of the Customs Act, 1962, and whether such prior clearance could be questioned only by way of appeal under Section 129D(2) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The goods had earlier been allowed clearance by the proper officer under Section 47 of the Customs Act, 1962. The subsequent order by the Additional Collector amounted to a second adjudication on a matter already decided by the competent authority. In view of the settled principle that an order permitting clearance under Section 47 can be challenged only through the appellate mechanism under Section 129D(2), the later order was not sustainable in law.

Conclusion: The impugned orders were without jurisdiction and were set aside.

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