Show Cause Notice bounces back to life - after thirty years!
AN assessee was issued a Show Cause Notice in 1985. Instead of going through the rigorous departmental channels of adjudication and appeal, the assessee filed a writ in the High Court in 1986 against the Show Cause Notice. The High Court after sixteen years set aside the Show Cause Notice in 2002.
Revenue does not like this kind of blatant disrespect to the holy Show Cause Notices issued by it. So the aggrieved Revenue took the matter in appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court after thirteen years, on 9th May 2014 set aside the High Court order and so the Show Cause Notice bounces back to life.
There must have been at least ten re-organisations of the Central Excise offices in the last thirty years and God knows in which office this file can be traced.
Anyway it's back to adjudication and maybe it will take another thirty years of litigation for the matter to reach finality.
Interestingly one of the allegations in the Show Cause Notice is that the sales depots were related persons and that therefore the price at which the goods were sold from the depots should be considered as the assessable value.
We bring you this Supreme Court Judgement today. Please see Breaking News.