Powers of Adjudication to
Customs Officers
[Custom
Public Notice No. 62 dated 10th September 2009]
F. No.S/22-Gen-221/2009 AM(I)
Subject: Powers of adjudication of the officers
of Customs.
Attention of all Importers, Custom House Agents,
Members of the Trade and all concerned are invited to Boards Circular
No.87/2002-Customs dated 17.12.2002 regarding the powers of adjudication of the
officers of Customs. The Board has
reviewed and enhanced the monetary limits prescribed for adjudication of cases
under section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962 by Additional / Joint Commissioners
of Customs vide Circular No.23/2009 dated 1st September, 2009 [F. No.450/117/2009-Cus.IV] as detailed in the
following table:
Table |
||
Level of Adjudication Officer |
Nature of cases |
Monetary level |
Customs: |
|
|
Commissioner |
All cases. |
Without any limit. |
Additional / Joint Commissioner |
SCN in cases involving collusion, willful mis-statement or suppression of facts etc. |
Duty involved upto Rs. 50
lakhs. |
Additional / Joint Commissioner |
Other cases |
Value of goods upto Rs. 50 lakhs. |
Deputy /
Assistant Commissioner |
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 would 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 would continue to be 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,
Commissioner 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 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 would 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 will be done by the appropriate level of
officers as per the revised instructions.
8. The Board has rescinded/modified all its
previous 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 to the above extent.
9. The contents of this Public
Notice may be brought to the notice of all the members of the trade and CHA
associations.