Binding monetary limit for departmental appeals bars admission where the tax demand falls below the prescribed threshold.

A departmental appeal below the revised monetary limit for High Court appeals was held not maintainable because the Board's circular fixing the threshold was in force when the matter came up for admission. The court treated the circular as binding on the Department and held that it could not disregard its own instructions. As the duty demand was below the prescribed limit, the appeal was dismissed without any need to decide the substantive questions of law.

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Issues: Whether the departmental appeal was maintainable in view of the monetary limit prescribed in the Board's circular and whether the Department was bound by that circular.

Analysis: The appeal involved a duty demand of Rs. 5,50,000, which was below the revised monetary limit of Rs. 10,00,000 prescribed for High Court appeals under the Board's instruction dated 17.08.2011. The Court noted that the circular was in force when the appeal came up for admission and that the Department was bound by its own instructions. Since the monetary threshold had not been met, the appeal ought not to have been filed and no adjudication on the substantial questions of law was necessary.

Conclusion: The appeal was not maintainable and was dismissed on the ground of the monetary limit in the departmental circular.

Ratio Decidendi: When the Board's circular prescribes a binding monetary threshold for departmental appeals, an appeal below that limit is not to be entertained and the Department cannot disregard its own circulars.

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