Customs show cause notice jurisdiction upheld under Canon II, with challenge rejected and matter sent back for adjudication.

A jurisdictional challenge to a customs show cause notice under Section 28 did not survive after Canon II clarified that Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officers are proper officers for that purpose. The notice was to be restored for adjudication rather than quashed, and Section 97 of the Finance Act, 2022 was noted as having validating effect. The petitioner was left to pursue the statutory adjudication process, with liberty to file a reply and receive a personal hearing before the adjudicating authority.

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Issues: Whether the show cause notice issued under Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence suffered from want of jurisdiction for not being issued by the proper officer, and whether the petitioner was to be relegated to the adjudicating authority in view of the Supreme Court's decision in Canon II.

Analysis: The challenge to the notice was founded on the absence of jurisdiction in the issuing authority under Section 28. The decision in Canon II clarified that officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and similarly placed officers are proper officers for the purposes of Section 28, and further directed that writ petitions directly challenging such notices should be disposed of in accordance with that ruling and the notices restored for adjudication by the proper officer. The order also noted the validating effect of Section 97 of the Finance Act, 2022 and granted the petitioner liberty to file a reply and receive a personal hearing before the adjudicating authority.

Conclusion: The jurisdictional challenge to the show cause notice did not survive, and the petitioner was relegated to participate in adjudication before the concerned authority with an opportunity to reply and be heard.

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