Customs Dept Should Serve Notices By Email In Addition To Post, Will Prevent Delay And Non-Appearances: Delhi High Court

A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Sharma said such an approach will prevent delay and non-appearances, leading to expeditious disposal of matters.

“In the opinion of this Court, the provision itself makes it clear that notices can be sent by email…The Customs Department ought to in future follow a system by which in addition to notices by speed post, registered post or courier, notices are also sent on the email address which is provided on the letterhead of the Petitioner or any authorised person. This would avoid substantial delay and matters proceeding ex-parte as has happened in the present case,” it said.

In the case at hand, the Department had issued notices asking the Petitioner to show cause why it should not be prevented from claiming duty drawbacks to the tune of Rs. 2,39,83,219/-. Ultimately, the impugned order for recovery and payment of interest and penalty came to be passed against the Petitioner ex-parte.

The Petitioner claimed that SCN forming the basis of the impugned order was never received by it. Thus, no reply to the SCN was filed and no hearing was actually held.

The Department on the other hand claimed that it had all the proper contact details of the Petitioner yet, notices were returned by the Petitioner.

“A perusal of the said provision would show that one of the modes for service under Section 153(b) of The Customs Act is through registered post, speed post or courier, however, it can also be sent through email in terms of Section 153(c) of The Customs Act. In addition, from 2021 onwards, notices and hearing notices can also be made available on the common portal as well,” the Court noted at the outset.

It observed that notices were served under Section 153(b) which only records notice by post or courier and not via email. Court was of the view that the entire delay and non-appearance could have been completely avoided if the notices were sent to the Petitioner by email.

In the overall scheme of things, the Court held that the Petitioner ought to be given an opportunity to reply to the SCN and a hearing may be afforded to the Petitioner.

It thus set aside the impugned order and ordered the Department to issue a fresh show cause notice, be served upon the Petitioner via email.

Before parting, the Court said, “...in order to avoid improper service to parties and to avoid ex-parte proceedings, it is incumbent that service of notices, communications and orders ought to be effected even through email and on the common portal, in addition to the traditional methods as per Section 153.”

Appearance: Mr. Prem Ranjan Kumar, Adv. for Petitioner; Mr. Aakarsh Srivastava, Standing Counsel for Customs with Adv Anand Pandey, Adv. for Respondents

Case title: Bonanza Enterprises v. The Assistant Commissioner Of Customs & Anr.

Case no.: W.P.(C) 7510/2024