Principal Commissioner of Customs Vs Mohan C. Suvarna (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court decided a batch of Civil Miscellaneous Appeals filed by the Revenue challenging a common order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai, dated 05.12.2017. The Tribunal had set aside the orders passed by the Commissioner of Customs and remanded the matters to the adjudicating authority, directing that the issue of jurisdiction of officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to issue show cause notices under Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 be decided after the Supreme Court’s ruling in the pending appeals arising from Mangali Impex. Until then, the Tribunal ordered maintenance of status quo.
Before the Tribunal, the assessees had raised a preliminary objection that the show cause notices were issued by DRI officers who were not “proper officers” under the Customs Act at the relevant time. The Tribunal noted that the Supreme Court in Sayed Ali had held DRI officers not to be proper officers, followed by amendments to Section 28 with effect from 08.04.2011 and subsequent notifications and validations. It further observed conflicting High Court judgments on whether such amendments cured the jurisdictional defect for the pre-amendment period. Since the Delhi High Court’s decision in Mangali Impex (favouring the assessee) was stayed by the Supreme Court and the issue was sub judice, the Tribunal remanded the matter, directing the adjudicating authority to first decide jurisdiction after the Supreme Court’s decision.
