JUDGMENT :

Jaswant Singh, J.

The Petitioner-partnership firm through instant petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is seeking quashing of show cause notice dated 09.02.2018 (Annexure P-9) whereby Assistant Commissioner of Customs, New Delhi has called upon the Petitioner to show cause as to why declared Free on Board (for short 'FOB') value of the exported goods should not be rejected and duty drawback should not be disallowed and recovered from them.

Facts:

2. The few facts emanating from record are that the Petitioner1 of 59 Manufacturer Exporter during June' 2010 to March' 2013 exported textile goods claiming benefit of duty drawback as permissible under Customs, Central Excise Duties and Service Tax Drawback Rules,1995 (for short 'Drawback Rules,1995) which were framed vide Notification No. 37/95- CUS (NT) dated 26.05.1995, in exercise of power conferred by Section 75 of Customs Act,1962 (for short 'Act,1962 '), Section 37 of the Central Excise Act,1944 and Section 93A of the Finance Act,1994.

As required under Section 50 of the 1962 Act, the Petitioner as and when exported goods, filed shipping bills declaring description, quantity, value, name of buyer etc. A team of Custom Officers i.e. Inspector, Superintendent and Assistant Commissioner physically verified export goods and noted on shipping bill "as per invoice and packing list" or "value reduced for the purpose of duty drawback". The goods were examined and assessed in terms of Section 17 of the 1962 Act. It would be relevant to notice that prior to 8.4.2011, there was no self assessment which was introduced by Finance Act,2011 w.e.f 8.4.2011. The Petitioner concededly exported goods vide 10 Shipping Bills during 2010 and 2 Shipping Bills during 2012 which are subject matter of present writ petition. The Custom Officers permitted export of goods in terms of Section 51 of the Customs Act,1962. As conceded by both parties, no separate assessment order was passed and drawback was released after export of goods.

The Petitioner realized export proceeds nevertheless Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) initiated an investigation against the Petitioner alleging that Petitioner is fraudulently availing duty drawback by grossly overvaluing the goods in the export documents. The DRI searched various premises of the Petitioner on 27.12.2012 and concluded that Petitioner has mis-declared value of goods which were exported upto 27.12.2012. On the basis of investigation conducted by DRI, Assistant Commissioner of Customs-Respondent No. 3 issued a Show Cause Notice dated 9.2.2018 (Annexure P-9) calling upon the Petitioner to show cause as to why declared FOB value of exported goods Rs.52,58,264/- should not be rejected in terms of Rule 8 of the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Export Goods) Rules,2007 (for short 'Valuation Rules 2007') read with Section 14 of the Act 1962 and re-determined Rs.7,51,181/- in terms of Rules 6 & 8 of the Valuation Rules,2007. The Petitioner has been further called upon to show cause as to why duty drawback amounting to Rs.4,46,153/- should not be disallowed and recovered from them under Rule 16 of Drawback Rules,1995.

Legal Submissions:

3. Mr. Jagmohan Bansal, Counsel for the Petitioner opening his case raised four issues namely (i) Reasonable period of limitation to issue show cause notice (ii) Effect of repeal of Drawback Rules of 1995 w.e.f. 01.10.2017 (iii) Absence of mechanism to raise demand of duty drawback and (iv) Power of Respondent to reassess value of goods already exported.

As per counsel for the Petitioner all the four issues go into the roots of jurisdiction of Respondent to issue show cause notice, therefore, this court has jurisdiction to entertain writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India inspite of alternative remedy available under the Customs Act,1962.

(i) Elaborating afore stated propositions, Ld. Counsel for the Petitioner contended that the Petitioner exported goods in question during