Commissioner of Customs Vs Sudhir Gulati (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court held that DRI are proper officers for the purpose of Section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 and accordingly has been empowered to issue demand notice under section 28. Accordingly, appeal of department allowed.
Facts-
The present appeal has been filed by the Appellant under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962, inter alia, challenging the impugned final order dated 24th July, 2017 passed by Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal wherein, the issue relating to Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence Officers being ‘proper officers’ or not, has been considered.
Conclusion-
Held that the question therefore, as to whether the DRI Officers are proper officers or not, stands decided in the decision in Canon-II and the decision in Mangali Impex Ltd. would no longer be good law. Under these circumstances, the present appeal deserves to be allowed and is accordingly allowed. The appeal no. being C/434/2011 before CESTAT is restored to its original position.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT
1.This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. The present appeal has been filed by the Appellant under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962, inter alia, challenging the impugned final order dated 24th July, 2017 (hereinafter, ‘impugned order’) passed by Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter, ‘CESTAT’) wherein, the issue relating to Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence (hereinafter, ‘DRI’) Officers being ‘proper officers’ or not, has been considered.
