Customs Department Files Review Petition Against Supreme Court's Judgment In Canon India

The Customs Department has filedReview Petition against a 2021 Supreme Court Judgment in Canon India Private Ltd. versus Commissioner of Customs, which had held that officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence do not have powers under the Customs Act ,1962. The Review Petition against the judgment in Canon India was listed before a Supreme Court Bench consisting of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian. The court has listed the Review Petition for 9th March, 2022. The Supreme Court in Canon India had held that in the absence of entrustment of functions by the Central Government under section 6 of the Customs Act, 1962, an officer of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) will not have the jurisdiction to exercise functions under the Act. Also, the court had held that show cause notice under section 28 of the Act can only be issued by 'the proper officer', i.e., the officer who had done the assessment in the first place and not by any other officer having concurrent jurisdiction. Following the ruling of Supreme Court in Canon India, many High Courts and Tribunals in India had quashed proceeding undertaken by the officers of DRI as invalid on the basis of show cause notices issued under Section 28 of the Act. As a result, many appeals against the orders passed on the basis of Canon India are pending in the Supreme Court. In a connected matter, the Union of India had filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court against the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court in M/S Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd. versus Union of India (2021), where the High Court following the judgment of Supreme Court in Canon India held the proceedings initiated by the Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence as invalid under Section 28 of the Act. In that case, the Attorney General had submitted that the Additional Director General (ADG), DRI, is an officer of the Customs Department and therefore the provisions of Section 6 of the Act requiring entrustment of functions by the Central Government is not relevant, since the ADG has been authorised by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIT&C) under section 2 (34) of the Act itself. He had contended that under the provisions of Section 28(11), the ADG, DRI, will be treated as a 'proper officer' irrespective of the requirement of Section 2(34) of the Act. Also, it was submitted that Section 28(11) was not under consideration in Canon India. Noting that a Review Petition questioning the correctness of the judgment in Canon India was pending in the Supreme Court, the court had listed the matter for submissions on 8th March, 2022. Case Title : Commissioner Of Customs Versus Canon India (REVIEW PETITION) Order Dated : 15.02.2022 (Supreme Court)Click Here To View/Download Order And Case Title: Union Of India Versus Godrej And Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd Order Dated: 11.02.2022 (Supreme Court) Click Here ToView/Download Order

Customs Department Files Review Petition Against Supreme Court's Judgment In Canon India

Parina Katyal

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