Customs duty demand notices must reach the importer within limitation; service only on the Customs House Agent is insufficient.

Under section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962, limitation for a short-levy demand is satisfied only when the show cause notice is duly served on the importer within the prescribed period. Service on the Customs House Agent alone is treated as insufficient because notice is complete only when it reaches the person concerned. The article notes that, where evidence does not show timely receipt by the importer, the demand is vulnerable on limitation grounds; where proper service on the importer is established, the demand may be maintained.

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Issues: Whether the demand notice for short-levied customs duty under section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 was served on the importer within limitation, and whether service only on the Customs House Agent was sufficient.

Analysis: The demand was raised after the duty payment, and the record did not establish by evidence that the show cause notice had reached the importer within the prescribed period. The notice was claimed to have been served on the Customs House Agent, but that alone was treated as insufficient. The Tribunal followed the settled position that notice is complete only when it reaches the person concerned, and that a demand not reaching the importer within six months is barred by limitation.

Conclusion: The limitation objection failed, and the demand notice was held to be within time only if properly served on the importer; service on the Customs House Agent by itself was not enough. The impugned order was sustained, and the appeal stood rejected in favour of the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: For a demand under section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962, limitation is satisfied only when the notice is duly served on the importer concerned; service merely on the Customs House Agent does not complete notice.

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