Limitation challenge to extension for customs show cause notice remains maintainable; adjudicating authority must decide it first.

The limitation objection to an extension of time for issuing a show cause notice under the Customs Act remained maintainable even after the notice had been issued. The Court accepted that issuance of the notice did not extinguish the appellant's right to question whether the extension exceeded the permissible period. It further held that the adjudicating authority should first decide the limitation plea when considering the reply to the show cause notice, rather than declining to examine it on the ground that notice had already been served.

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Issues: Whether the challenge to the extension of time for issuance of the show cause notice under the Customs Act could be examined despite the notice having already been issued, and whether the adjudicating authority should first decide the limitation objection raised by the appellant.

Analysis: The appeal arose from an order extending the period for issuance of notice under Section 110(2) read with Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962. The objection was that the extension exceeded the maximum permissible period and that issuance of the notice did not eliminate the right to contest limitation. The Court accepted that the limitation plea survived and that the Tribunal ought not to have declined consideration of the objection merely because the show cause notice had been issued.

Conclusion: The limitation objection was held to be maintainable, and the adjudicating authority was directed to decide that question first while considering the reply to the show cause notice.

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