Adjudication delay and prior quashing of the principal noticee's notice rendered the co-noticee's order unsustainable.

Prolonged adjudication delay, repeated call-book transfers and repeated adjournments were treated as fatal where the show cause notice had already been quashed in connected proceedings involving the principal importer. The Delhi High Court held that the co-noticee's consequential order in original could not survive independently once the underlying notice had been set aside for unexplained delay. On that basis, the show cause notice and the order in original were quashed in favour of the petitioner.

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Issues: Whether the show cause notice and the consequential order in original were liable to be quashed on account of inordinate delay in adjudication and in light of the earlier batch judgment quashing the notice qua the principal noticee.

Analysis: The petition arose from the same show cause notice that had already been set aside in connected proceedings concerning the principal importer. The record showed prolonged pendency, repeated call-book transfers, and repeated adjournments over several years before adjudication. In view of the earlier judgment quashing the notice on the ground of unexplained delay, the consequential order passed against the co-noticee could not survive independently.

Conclusion: The show cause notice and the order in original were quashed. The issue was decided in favour of the petitioner.

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