Customs Circular No- 24/2011 datedd
31.05.2011
Revision in the powers of adjudication of the officers of Customs.
Attention is invited to Board Circular No.23/2009-Customs dated 1.9.2009 which
provides for monetary limits of adjudication of cases by officers of various
grades where SCNs are issued under section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962.
2. References have been received from the field formations for specifying the
'proper officer' for issuance of show cause Notice and adjudication of cases of
export under the drawback and Export Promotion Schemes.
3. Further, as per Board's Circular No.23/2009-Customs dated 1.09.2009, whereas
the monetary limits of adjudication are prescribed in terms of duty involved, in
respect of notices involving extended period of limitation, the monetary limit
is specified based on the value of goods involved. This when worked out in
accordance with the duty rates prescribed gives rise to an anomalous situation.
4. The matter has been examined in the Board. In order to streamline guidelines
on monetary limit for adjudication of cases by different grades of Customs
Officers, it has been decided that henceforth, cases where SCNs are issued under
section 28 of the Customs Act, 1962, these will be adjudicated as per following
norms:
| Level of Adjudication officer |
Nature of cases |
Amount of duty involved |
| Customs |
|
|
| Commissioner |
All cases |
Without limit |
| ADC/JC |
All Cases |
Upto Rs.50 lakhs |
| AC/DC |
All cases |
Upto Rs. 5 lakhs |
5. Further, it has been decided that the proper officer for the issuance of Show
Cause Notice and adjudication of cases under the provisions of Rule 16 of the
Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995 shall, henceforth,
be as under:
(i) In case of simple demand of erroneously paid drawback, the present practice
of issuing Show Cause Notice and adjudication of case without any limit by
Assistant / Deputy Commissioner of Customs shall continue.
(ii) In cases involving collusion, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts
etc., the adjudication powers will be as under:
| Level of Adjudication Officer |
Amount of Drawback |
| Additional / Joint Commissioner of Customs |
Without any limit |
| Deputy / Assistant Commissioner of Customs |
Upto Rs.5 lakhs |
6. In case of Export Promotion Schemes i.e. DEPB / Advance Authorization / DFIA
/ Reward Schemes etc. the adjudication powers shall be as under:-
| Level of Adjudication officer |
Duty Incentive amount |
| Commissioner of Customs. |
Without any limit. |
| Additional / Joint Commissioner of Customs. |
Upto Rs.50 lakhs. |
| Deputy / Assistant Commissioner of Customs. |
Upto Rs.5 lakhs. |
7. It is clarified that notwithstanding this revision, in all cases where
personal hearing has been completed, orders will be passed by adjudicating
authority before whom the personal hearing has been held. Such orders will
normally be issued within a month of date of completion of the personal hearing.
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 transfer of relevant files and records to respective
adjudicating authorities and the exercise of transfer of case records should be
completed by 15.06.2011 under proper receipt.
8. Board Circular No.23/2009 - Customs dated 1.9.2009 stands amended to the
above extent.
9. Difficulty faced, if any, may be brought to the notice of the Board
immediately.
F.No.450/117/2009-Cus.IV
Yours faithfully,
(R. P. Singh)
Director (Customs)