High Court overturns rejection of waiver request under Central Excise Act, directs reevaluation with hearing

The High Court set aside the order rejecting the petitioner's waiver of predeposit under Section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, due to lack of a hearing. The Court directed the Appellate Authority to reconsider the application, providing the petitioner with a hearing and deciding within one month.

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Issues involved: Appeal for waiver of predeposit under Section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

Summary:
The petitioner had appealed before the Commissioner (Appeals) Central Excise and Service Tax, Ranchi seeking waiver of predeposit under Section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The impugned order dated 17.02.2012 rejected the petitioner's prayer without providing an opportunity of hearing. The petitioner's counsel argued that the order wrongly referred to Section 85 of the Finance Act instead of Section 35F of the Central Excise Act 1944. Citing a previous case, the counsel highlighted the necessity of affording an opportunity of hearing before deciding on the waiver application. The revenue's counsel did not contest the requirement of a hearing before passing such orders.

The High Court set aside the order dated 17.02.2012 and directed the Appellate Authority to reconsider the petitioner's application for waiver of pre-deposit. The Appellate Authority was instructed to hear and decide on the application within one month after providing an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner. The Court allowed the writ petition accordingly.

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