Appeal No. : E/471 to 474 of 2012
[Application Nos. E/S/726 to 729 of 2012]
Arising out of : OIA No. 213 to 216/2012/Commr(A)/RBT/RAJ dt. 27.4.12
Passed by : Commr. (Appeals) C. Excise & Customs, Rajkot
For approval and signature :
Hon'ble Mr. M.V. Ravindran, Member (Judicial)
Hon ble Mr. B.S.V. Murthy, Member (Technical)
Shri Praful G. Patel
Shri Pravinbhai K. Patel
Shri Ganeshbhai H. Patel
Represented by : Ms. Dimple, Advocate (for P.R. Associates)
Respondent (s) : Commissioner of Central Excise, Rajkot
Represented by : Shri Manoj Kutty, A.R.
CORAM :
Hon'ble Mr. M.V. Ravindran, Member (Judicial)
Hon ble Mr. B.S.V. Murthy, Member (Technical)
Date of Hearing/ Decision : 05.09.2012
ORDER No. _____________ /WZB/AHD/2012
Per : Mr. M.V. Ravindran;
These stay petitions are filed for the waiver of pre-deposit of amount Rs. 40,13,446/- confirmed as duty along with interest and equivalent amount of penalty on the firm and personal penalty of Rs. 10 Lakhs each on the other appellants.
2. The above said amounts have been confirmed by the adjudicating authority and upheld by the first appellate authority on the ground that the appellant has under valued their finished products cleared from the factory premises by not following the procedure of provisions of Section 4A of the Central Excise Act, 1944.
3. Learned counsel, at the outset submits that the first appellate authority has dismissed/ rejected the appeals only for non compliance of directions of pre-deposit of 100% of the duty liability and 50% of the penalties imposed by the adjudicating authority. It is her submission that appellant has deposited an amount of Rs. 10 Lakhs, which is almost 25% of the duty confirmed by the lower authorities. It is her submission that since the first appellate authority has not passed any order on merits of the case, the deposit made by the appellant may be accepted as pre-deposit and matter may be remanded back to the first appellate authority for considering the issue on merits.
4. Learned departmental representative confirms that appellant has deposited an amount of Rs. 10 Lakhs.
5. On careful consideration of the submissions made by both sides, we find that the appeals themselves could be disposed of at this juncture. Accordingly, we allow the stay petitions filed for the waiver of balance amounts involved and take up the appeals for disposal as the Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat in identical issues had directed similarly placed assessees for depositing an amount of 8% of the total duty liability confirmed by the lower authorities. In this case, we find that appellant has already deposited about 20% of the amount of duty confirmed by the adjudicating authority.
6. We find that the first appellate authority has dismissed/ rejected the appeals only for non compliance. In our view, pre-deposit of amount of Rs. 10 Lakhs is sufficient deposit to hear and dispose the appeals. Accordingly, we set-aside the impugned orders and directed the first appellate authority to consider the appeals filed by the appellants on merits of the case and take up the matters for disposal after following the principles of natural justice and without insisting on further pre-deposit.
Appeals are allowed by way of remand to the first appellate authority.
(Dictated and pronounced in the Court)
(B.S.V. Murthy) (M.V. Ravindran)
Member (Technical) Member (Judicial)
..KL
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