Remand restores pending adjudication status, preserving Sabka Vishwas scheme eligibility for a disputed excise declaration.

An order remanding an excise dispute for de novo adjudication restores the matter to the stage of pending adjudication, so the declaration under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 could not be rejected on the footing that the dispute had already been finally heard or must be treated as arrears. Because the earlier adjudication stood set aside and fresh decision remained pending before the adjudicating authority, the declaration fell within the litigation category, including the sub-category of an SCN involving duty pending. The rejection orders were quashed and the declaration was directed to be accepted and processed through the designated committee.

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Issues: Whether, after the Tribunal remanded the excise matter for de novo adjudication, the declarants remained eligible under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, and whether their declaration ought to be accepted under the category of litigation, sub-category SCN involving duty pending.

Analysis: The remand order had the effect of reviving the dispute from the stage of original adjudication, so that the matter stood pending before the adjudicating authority and had not attained final hearing on or before 30.06.2019. The rejection of the declaration on the footing that the case fell under pending appeal or, alternatively, that it must be treated as arrears, was inconsistent with the legal effect of a remand and with the object of the scheme. Once the earlier adjudication was set aside and the matter was sent back for fresh decision, the declaration could not be denied on the premise that the dispute had already been finally heard.

Conclusion: The declaration was held to be maintainable under the litigation category and the respondents were directed to accept it and process it through the designated committee.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, the rejection orders were quashed, and the petitioners were entitled to have their declaration considered under the scheme.

Ratio Decidendi: An order of remand restores the dispute to the stage of pending adjudication, and a declarant cannot be denied scheme eligibility on the basis that the matter had already been finally heard when fresh adjudication remains pending.

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