The Delhi High Court has held that repeated placing and removing of the matter from the call book by the Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is not a valid justification for non-adjudication of the impugned SCN for about 15 years.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Dharmesh Sharma have observed that placing the matter on the call book and taking it up after several years would not be permissible.
The Petitioners is engaged in the trading of indigenous and imported Galvanised Iron wires (GI wires) through their firm M/s. Ikon Wire (India). According to the Petitioners, the imported GI wires were being procured from one Shri Sandeep Aggarwal who used to import the same through various firms, either owned or operated, being M/s. Shivalik Impex, M/s. Raghav Impex, M/s. Popular Mart and M/s. White Leaf.
The DRI suspected undervaluation in the import of GI wires and “Wire Mesh” that was being imported by these four firms. Accordingly, the DRI conducted certain searches at the premises of the supplier i.e., Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal and his firms, as also the godown of the Petitioners who had purchased the products from him. The Petitioners were forced to deposit a sum of Rs. 75,00,000/- in the name of the importing firms. The Petitioners sought to resile from the statements made by them and also sought release of the sum deposited, i.e., Rs. 75,00,000.
The impugned SCN was issued by the DRI, upon completion of its investigation, holding the Petitioners, inter alia, jointly and severally liable for payment of differential duty under Section 28(1) of the Customs Act.
The SCN, however, was not adjudicated for a substantial period of time by the concerned assessing authorities, despite the SCN being made answerable to four separate authorities i.e., Commissioner of Customs at New Delhi, Maharashtra, Chennai and Kandla.
The court quashed the SCN issued way back in 2008, due to repeated placing in the call book that has not been adjudicated for so long.
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Case Details
Case Title: Tilak Raj Jain Versus Additional Director General, Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence
Case No.: W.P.(C) 14922/2023
Date: 10th January, 2025
Counsel For Appellant: Tarun Gulati, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Prem Ranjan Kumar & Ms. Shruti
Counsel For Respondent: Harpreet Singh, Senior Standing Counsel along with Mr. Suhani Mathur and Shivang Chawla
