CESTAT held that the show cause notice issued under Section 111...

CESTAT held that the show cause notice issued under Section 111 of the Finance Act, 2013 was time-barred. The appellant had filed a declaration on 31.12.2013 under the Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme, but the notice was only served on 02.01.2015, beyond the statutory one-year limitation period. The Tribunal emphasized that "service" of notice must comply with statutory provisions, and neither issuance of the show cause notice nor pasting it on factory premises constituted proper service as required by law. Since the notice was not served within the prescribed time limit, all subsequent proceedings including demand confirmation were deemed non-maintainable. The appeal was allowed without examining the second ground regarding false declaration.