Bench finality requires all constituting members to remain in office until the operative order is signed and issued.

A multi-member bench order is effective only when the members constituting the bench remain in existence and are competent to participate until the final operative order is signed and issued. A draft or earlier signed version does not attain legal finality if one member has retired before completion of the order. On that basis, proceedings under Section 129C(5) of the Customs Act could not validly continue where the original bench was no longer lawfully constituted at finalisation. Rule 26 of the CEGAT Procedure Rules reinforces that the order must be signed and dated by the members constituting the bench. The reference proceedings were therefore incompetent.

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Issues: Whether the proceedings under Section 129C(5) of the Customs Act, 1962 were valid when one member of the original bench had retired before the final order was signed and issued, and whether the reference to the larger bench could therefore be acted upon.

Analysis: The order of a multi-member bench attains finality only when the members constituting the bench are in existence and capable of changing their view before the operative order is completed. A draft or signed order does not become the judgment of the bench until the final order is made by members who are still competent to constitute that bench. Applying this principle, the absence of one member, who had already retired before the later order was signed, meant that there was no valid order of the original bench capable of supporting further proceedings under Section 129C(5). Rule 26 of the CEGAT Procedure Rules also indicates that the order must be signed and dated by the members constituting the bench, reinforcing the requirement that the bench must exist in law at the time of final disposal.

Conclusion: The reference proceedings were incompetent and the matter could not validly proceed before the present bench.

Ratio Decidendi: A bench order is valid only if the members constituting the bench are in existence and capable of participating until the final operative order is signed and issued; if a member has ceased to be a member before finalisation, the order cannot support further proceedings under the reference provision.

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