Committee on Disputes approval no longer bars Revenue appeals after the Supreme Court recalled the earlier requirement.

Approval of the Committee on Disputes was no longer a precondition for the Revenue to maintain its appeal after the Supreme Court recalled the earlier directions that had required that mechanism for disputes between government departments and public sector undertakings. On that basis, the prior understanding that COD approval was mandatory ceased to apply. The Tribunal had dismissed the Revenue's appeals solely because such approval was absent and did not examine the merits of the tax dispute. That dismissal was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether approval of the Committee on Disputes was required before the Revenue could maintain the appeal, and whether the Tribunal was justified in dismissing the Revenue's appeals solely for want of such approval.

Analysis: The binding position governing disputes between government departments and public sector undertakings had been altered when the Supreme Court recalled the earlier directions that had required recourse to the Committee on Disputes mechanism. In light of that later ruling, the earlier understanding that such approval was a precondition for maintaining the appeal no longer survived. The Tribunal's dismissal rested only on the absence of Committee on Disputes approval and did not go into the merits of the tax dispute.

Conclusion: Committee on Disputes approval was not required, and the Tribunal's order dismissing the appeals on that ground was unsustainable.

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