Inordinate adjudication delay led to quashing of a long-pending show cause notice after decades of unexplained inaction.

A show cause notice was quashed where adjudication had remained pending for nearly 25 years from the notice and more than 30 years from the import. The respondents' explanations for the delay had already been rejected in an earlier decision concerning a co-noticee on the same notice, and the court followed that reasoning to hold the delay unjustified. The notice was therefore set aside in favour of the petitioners.

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Issues: Whether the impugned show cause notice dated 07 May 1997 was liable to be quashed on account of inordinate delay in adjudication.

Analysis: The notice was issued to the petitioners and co-noticees, and the adjudication delay was stated to be nearly 25 years from the notice and more than 30 years from the import. The reasons offered by the respondents to explain the delay had already been found unacceptable in the earlier decision involving a co-noticee on the same notice. Following that precedent and adopting the same reasoning, the delay was treated as unjustified.

Conclusion: The impugned show cause notice was quashed and set aside in favour of the petitioners.

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