Senthil Kumar Vs Commissioner of Customs Adjudication Air (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court held that verbatim reproduction of contents of show cause notice without independent reasoning for arriving at conclusion results into violation of principles of natural justice. Hence, matter remanded back to file of first respondent for fresh consideration.
Facts- The present writ petitions have been filed challenging the impugned order-in original dated 17.04.2025 passed by the first respondent. Under the impugned order-in-original, the first respondent has imposed penalty on the respective petitioners as per the provisions of Section 112(a)&(b) of the Customs Act, 1962.
The respective petitioners have challenged the impugned order-in-original on the ground of violation of the principles of natural justice and on the ground that the first respondent has pre-determined the issue as they have verbatim reproduced the contents of the show cause notice sent to the respective petitioners earlier in the impugned order-in-original. The petitioners also claim that the replies sent by them have not been considered in the impugned order-in-original.
Conclusion- Held that as seen from the impugned order-in-original, the first respondent has cut, copied and pasted the contents of the show cause notice in the impugned order-in-original and the first respondent has not given independent reasoning for arriving at the conclusion.
