Settlement application maintainable on full admission of duty demand, conferring exclusive jurisdiction on the settlement forum.

An application for settlement under the Central Excise settlement mechanism is maintainable where the applicant has disclosed the duty liability, fully admitted the show cause notice demand, and satisfied the statutory conditions for proceeding. On those facts, the Commission held that the requirements for invoking the settlement procedure were met, allowed the application to proceed under Section 32F(1), and stated that admission of the settlement application confers exclusive jurisdiction on the settlement forum over the matter.

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Issues: Whether the application for settlement was maintainable under Section 32E of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and whether the conditions for proceeding with the application under Section 32F(1) were satisfied.

Analysis: The applicant had disclosed the duty liability arising from unaccounted production and had deposited an amount exceeding the admitted liability. The Commission found that the show cause notice duty demand had been fully admitted and that the statutory conditions for invocation of the settlement mechanism were fulfilled.

Conclusion: The application was allowed to proceed under Section 32F(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Final Conclusion: The settlement application was admitted for further proceedings and, upon such admission, the Commission obtained exclusive jurisdiction over the matter.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the applicant has fully admitted the duty demand and satisfies the statutory requirements of settlement, the application is to be admitted for further proceedings and the settlement forum acquires exclusive jurisdiction.

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