Stay and pre-deposit waiver in excise appeal: fresh Tribunal application allowed with limitation plea and expeditious consideration.

A writ petition challenging the Tribunal's refusal to grant stay and waiver of pre-deposit in a central excise appeal was not decided on the merits of the excise demand. The Court held that the petitioner could seek relief by filing a fresh stay and waiver application before the Tribunal and could raise the plea that the demand was time-barred. It also directed the Tribunal to consider the stay request and the appeal expeditiously. The petition was disposed of on that basis.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition should interfere with the Tribunal's refusal to grant stay and waiver of pre-deposit in a central excise appeal, and whether the petitioner should be permitted to raise the plea that the demand was barred by limitation before the Tribunal.

Analysis: The petition was not taken up for substantive adjudication of the excise demand. Instead, the Court found that the petitioner's grievance could be addressed by permitting a fresh stay and waiver application before the Tribunal, specifically raising the legal and factual plea of limitation, and by directing early consideration of the stay request and the appeal.

Outcome: The writ petition was disposed of with liberty to move a fresh stay or waiver application before the Tribunal and with a direction for expeditious consideration of the application and appeal.

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