TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (4) TMI 1185
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....oncurrence of both sides, the appeal itself is taken up for decision. 2. The present appeal is against the Order C. No. VIII(10)13/CCP/ADJN/B.NUT/GULSHAN/DRI-KZU/WB/18/4589P dated 18/04/2018 passed by the Commissioner of Customs (Prev.), Kolkata. The appellant is engaged in the business of purchase and sale of Betel Nuts at Hailakandi (Assam). The appellant's truck was intercepted by the officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Siliguri Regional Unit on 26/10/2017, which was found to be loaded with 19500 Kgs of Betel nuts packed in 250 bags. The investigation under taken by DRI suggests that the Betel Nuts were loaded from Vairengte, Mizoram and those were smuggled into India from Indonesia via Myanmar through Indo-Myanmar Bo....
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....ct, 1962. The Ld. DR brought our notice that this sub Section was amended with effect from 29/03/2018, empowering the Commissioner to order such extension Suo Moto without any reference to the person from whom the goods were seized. He submitted that the amended provisions have come into existence within the period of six months from the date of seizure and hence the same will be valid for the present seizure. As such he prayed that the impugned order does not suffer from any illegality and may be upheld. 6. Herd both sides and perused the record. 7. The point for decision in the present appeal is whether the Commissioner of Customs is empowered to extend the period for issue of Show Cause Notice in terms of Section 110, by a period of si....
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....o procedural law is to be considered as retrospective except in cases which are time barred before the Amending Act with a larger period of limitation comes into force. The observations are as follows:- "10. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and Shri Bagaria, the learned Amicus Curiae at some length. There is no doubt whatsoever that a period of limitation being procedural or adjectival law would ordinarily be retrospective in nature. This, however, is with one proviso super added which is that the claim made under the amended provision should not itself have been a dead claim in the sense that it was time barred before an Amending Act with a larger period of limitation comes into force. A number of judgments of this Cou....
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....come Tax Officer to commence proceedings which before the new Act came into force had by the expiry of the period provided, become barred." To similar effect is the judgment in J.P. Jani, Income Tax Officer v. Induprasad Devshanker Bhatt, AIR 1969 SC 778. The Court held : "6. In our opinion, the principle of this decision applies in the present case and it must be held that on a proper construction of Section 297(2)(d)(ii) of the new Act, the Income Tax Officer cannot issue a notice under Section 148 in order to re-open the assessment of an assessee in a case where the right to reopen the assessment was barred under the old Act at the date when the new Act came into force. It follows therefore that the notices dated 13-11-1963 and 9-119....