Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise & Customs
North Block, New Delhi
1st September, 2009
Circular No. 23/2009-Customs
To
All Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prev.).
All Chief Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise.
All Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prev.).
All Commissioners of Customs (Appeals).
All Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise.
All Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise (Appeals).
Subject : Powers of adjudication of the officers of Customs.
Sir / Madam,
I am directed to invite your attention to the Board’s Circular
No.87/2002-Customs dated 17.12.2002 regarding the powers of adjudication of
officers of Customs. Board has reviewed the monetary limits prescribed for
adjudication of cases by Additional / Joint Commissioners of Customs and it has
been decided to enhance the powers of adjudication of these officers.
2.
Accordingly, it has been decided that, under Section 28 of the Customs Act,
1962, the powers of adjudication of various categories of officers shall be as
follows.
| Level of Adjudication Officer
|
Nature of cases |
Monetary level
(Rs. in lakh) |
| Customs: |
| Commissioner |
All cases. |
Without any limit. |
| ADC/JC |
SCN in cases involving collusion, willful mis-statement or suppression of facts
etc. |
Duty involved upto Rs. 50 lakhs. |
| ADC/JC |
Other cases |
Value of goods upto Rs. 50 lakhs. |
| AC / DC |
SCN with / without invoking extended period. |
Value of goods upto Rs.2 lakh. |
3. In the case of Baggage, the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner
shall continue to adjudicate the cases without limit, since such cases are
covered by the offences under Chapter XIV and it is necessary to expeditiously
dispose off the cases in respect of passengers at the airport. In other cases,
such as short landing, drawback etc., the adjudication powers shall be continue
to the same as provided under the Customs Act, 1962 or the Rules/Regulations
made thereunder.
4. As per definition under section 2 (8) of the Customs Act, 1962, Commissioner
of Customs includes an Additional Commissioner of Customs except for the purpose
of appeal and revision. Therefore, respective Commissioners may review the
status of cases pending for adjudication, which fall within the powers of
Commissioners only, and depending on the workload may consider allocating some
of these cases to Additional Commissioners working under their charge to ensure
speedier disposal. An appeal against the Order-In-Original passed by an
Additional Commissioner shall lie before Commissioner of Customs (Appeal) and
not before the CESTAT.
5. In so far as the issuance of Show Cause Notice for demand of duty under
Section 28 is concerned, the same can be issued by the respective adjudicating
officers depending upon the powers of adjudication.
6. It is clarified that notwithstanding this revision, in all cases where the
personal hearing has been completed, orders will be passed by the Adjudicating
Authority before whom the hearing has been held. Such orders should normally be
issued within a month of the date of completion of the personal hearing.
7. In all cases where personal hearing is yet to be commenced, the adjudications
should be done by the appropriate level of officers as per the revised
instructions. An immediate exercise should be undertaken to take stock of the
present pendency and the transfer of relevant files and records to respective
adjudicating authorities and the exercise of transfer of case records should be
completed by 30th September 2009, under proper receipt. The recast figures
should be reflected in the Monthly Technical Report of September, 2009, which is
to be submitted in October, 2009.
8. The Chief Commissioners are requested to report to the Board about the number
of cases and the amount involved, which will go out of the jurisdiction of
officers of different levels as a result of these modifications, pertaining to
their respective jurisdiction.
9. All previous Board’s Circulars and instructions such as instruction F.No.
437/8/91-Cus.IV dated 13.5.1992, Circular No.47/97-Cus dated 6/10/97 and
Circular No.87/2002- Cus dated 17/12/2002 relating to adjudication of Show Cause
Notices are hereby rescinded/ modified to the above extent.
10. These instructions may be brought to the notice of all concerned by way of
issuance of suitable Public Notice / Standing Order.
11. Difficulties, if any, in implementation of the Circular may be brought
immediately to the notice of the Board.
Yours sincerely,
(Navraj Goyal)
Under Secretary (Customs Policy)
F. No.450/117/2009-Cus.IV