Writ challenge to show cause notice rejected where statutory objections could be raised before the adjudicating officer.

Writ jurisdiction will ordinarily not be exercised against show cause notices issued during statutory investigation when the objections can be effectively raised before the adjudicating officer. The notices here followed search and seizure proceedings, and the petitioner's complaints about procedural non-compliance, lack of adequate opportunity, and the validity of the proposed demand were held to be matters for reply in adjudication. No ground was made out to interfere at the notice stage, so the writ petitions were not entertained and the petitioner was relegated to pursue the statutory adjudication process.

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Issues: Whether the writ petitions challenging the show cause notices were liable to be entertained at the threshold or whether the petitioner should be relegated to reply before the adjudicating officer.

Analysis: The notices were issued by the proper officer after search and seizure proceedings during investigation. The objections based on alleged non-compliance with the statutory scrutiny procedure, absence of adequate opportunity, and the validity of the proposed demand were matters that could be raised in reply before the adjudicating officer. In these circumstances, and in view of the earlier course adopted in connected proceedings, no ground was made out to interfere at the show cause notice stage.

Conclusion: The challenge to the show cause notices was not entertained and the petitioner was relegated to raise all available factual and legal grounds before the adjudicating officer.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions failed at the threshold and the petitioner was left to pursue the statutory adjudication process in response to the impugned notices.

Ratio Decidendi: A writ petition will ordinarily not be entertained against a show cause notice issued in the course of statutory investigation where the objections can be effectively raised before the adjudicating authority.

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