https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=73807 A multi-member bench order is effective only when the members constituting the bench remain in existence and are competent to participate until the final operative order is signed and issued. A draft or earlier signed version does not attain legal finality if one member has retired before completion of the order. On that basis, proceedings under Section 129C(5) of the Customs Act could not validly continue where the original bench was no longer lawfully constituted at finalisation. Rule 26 of the CEGAT Procedure Rules reinforces that the order must be signed and dated by the members constituting the bench. The reference proceedings were therefore incompetent. en-us Fri, 29 Jul 1988 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:45:01 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=73807 A multi-member bench order is effective only when the members constituting the bench remain in existence and are competent to participate until the final operative order is signed and issued. A draft or earlier signed version does not attain legal finality if one member has retired before completion of the order. On that basis, proceedings under Section 129C(5) of the Customs Act could not validly continue where the original bench was no longer lawfully constituted at finalisation. Rule 26 of the CEGAT Procedure Rules reinforces that the order must be signed and dated by the members constituting the bench. The reference proceedings were therefore incompetent. Case-Laws Customs Fri, 29 Jul 1988 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=73807