Binding judgment bars fresh show cause notice where the same issue had already been finally settled and closed.

A later show cause notice cannot reopen a matter already finally settled by a binding judgment when it rests on the same foundation earlier adjudicated and closed. The earlier Division Bench ruling had treated the policy clarification as prospective and held that settled claims could not be reopened; it also quashed recovery notices based on that clarified interpretation. Because the fresh notice alleged no independent misstatement or distinct disqualification beyond the very basis already considered, reliance on the earlier saving paragraph could not justify a new proceeding. The notice was therefore quashed as contrary to the prior binding decision and arbitrary.

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Issues: Whether the show cause notice issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade could reopen an issue already concluded by an earlier binding judgment, and whether the notice was unsustainable because it rested on the same basis that had already been adjudicated.

Analysis: The earlier Division Bench judgment had upheld the policy clarification as prospective, held that settled and closed claims could not be reopened, and quashed the recovery notices that had proceeded on the clarified route-based interpretation. The present notice did not allege any independent misstatement outside the very basis already considered in the earlier proceedings. In those circumstances, invoking the earlier paragraph permitting action only where some distinct disqualification or suppression existed could not justify a fresh proceeding on the same foundation. Reopening the closed issue by issuing a new notice was therefore contrary to the effect of the earlier binding decision and was arbitrary.

Conclusion: The show cause notice was quashed and set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: A later show cause notice cannot validly reopen a matter already finally settled by a binding judgment when it proceeds on the same foundation that the earlier decision has already adjudicated and closed.

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