Adjudication Order passed by officer lower in Rank than SCN issuing Authority; whether order is beyond jurisdiction

[Aap Consulting Pvt. Ltd.]

Dear Experts, 

The SCN and DRC 01 both were issued by Additional Commissioner and was answerable to Additional Commissioner; however the Order in Original is signed by Assistant Commissioner DRC 07 has no signature and only mentions "Additional Commissioner".

The amount involved is within the monetary limits prescribed for Assistant Commissioner. Whether we can take the ground that the SCN issued by senior officer cannot be adjudicated by officer lower in rank, and the O-i-O is beyond jurisdiction.

Also this ground being legal one, can be taken before the Tribunal (if not pleaded before Commissioner A)

AI Summary

Adjudication jurisdiction: a show-cause notice addressed to a senior officer cannot be validly adjudicated by a lower-ranking officer.
When a Show-Cause Notice is made answerable to an Additional Commissioner, adjudication by a lower-ranking Assistant Commissioner is a jurisdictional defect; without a corrigendum reassigning the SCN, the order signed by the subordinate may be legally infirm. Such technical designation errors may be corrected by corrigendum or rectification where permissible. All grounds should be raised before the First Appellate Authority, though a tribunal may accept a jurisdictional challenge not previously pleaded, subject to its discretion.