Court sets aside Commission's order in writ petition, remands for fresh consideration. Payment, duty liability considered for immunity.

The Court allowed the writ petition, setting aside the Commission's order and remanding the matter for fresh consideration. The Commission was directed to consider the previous payment and the admitted higher duty liability, granting the petitioner sufficient time for payment to be entitled to immunity from penalty and prosecution. No costs were awarded, and the connected Miscellaneous Petition was closed.

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Issues:
Challenge to order of Customs and Central Excise Settlement Commission under Section 32E of Central Excise Act, 1944.

Analysis:
The petitioner, a Textile Mill, filed an application for settlement of proceedings initiated against them by the Additional Commissioner of Central Excise. Initially, a duty demand of &8377; 34,00,950/- was reduced to &8377; 30,97,851/-. The petitioner accepted to remit additional duty of &8377; 10,79,898/- and filed an application before the Settlement Commission. The Commission directed the petitioner to deposit the admitted amount, which was paid. Subsequently, the petitioner admitted a higher duty liability of &8377; 22,48,025.25. The Commission rejected the application later due to lack of representation by the petitioner during a hearing.

The Court observed that the petitioner had cooperated by initially agreeing to additional duty liability, making the payment, and appearing before the Commission multiple times. The Commission had granted adjournments for various reasons not attributable to the petitioner, such as the absence of departmental representatives and administrative reasons. The Court held that the Commission should have given one more opportunity to the petitioner considering the payments made and the admission of future additional duty liability.

Consequently, the Court allowed the writ petition, set aside the impugned order, and remanded the matter back to the Commission for fresh consideration. The Commission was directed to consider the previous payment and the admitted higher duty liability, granting sufficient time to the petitioner for payment to be entitled to immunity from penalty and prosecution. No costs were awarded, and the connected Miscellaneous Petition was closed.

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