2002 (2) TMI 572

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....smuch as show cause notice has not been issued by proper officer. He said that in the present case the goods were imported at Cochin port, whereas the show cause notice had been issued by the Asst. Collector, Bombay. The Asst. Collector, Bombay was not competent to issue show cause notice since the goods were imported at Cochin. He said that the proper officer must be an officer who must be functioning within the jurisdictional Collectorate where the import in question has been effected. Precisely this was the view taken by the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka in the case of Devilog Systems India, reported in 1995 (76) E.L.T. 520 (Kar.). In this context he drew our attention to Para 7 of the said decision, which reads as under : 7. Be ....

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....in question has been effected. Otherwise an anomalous situation would follow. The submission of learned Counsel for the department is that any officer up to the rank of Principal Appraiser stationed anywhere in India can issue notice under Section 28(1) of the Act to any importer who may have imported articles attracting customs duty in any part of India. Accordingly even if such imports are made at Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi, notice can be issued by the Customs Officer at Madras. This is a little too far-fetched. It would in fact affect the very scheme of the Act. It cannot be forgotten that the object of issuing notice under Section 28(1) is to ensure that any evasion in the payment of customs duty is made good by the importer conce....