Monetary limit for departmental appeals applies to disputed duty alone; interest and penalty are excluded for threshold computation.

Departmental appeals are governed by the monetary threshold in the instructions by reference to the duty or tax in dispute, not the total demand. The clarificatory paragraph indicates that the limit applies to the disputed amount alone, and interest and penalty are not to be added unless the instructions expressly provide an exception. On the stated facts, part of the demand had already been adjusted and the balance disputed amount remained below the prescribed limit, so the Revenue's appeal before the Tribunal was not maintainable. The instructions were applied to prevent low-value litigation.

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Issues: Whether the Revenue's appeal before the Tribunal was maintainable in view of the monetary limit prescribed in the departmental instructions, and whether the disputed amount had to be determined by reference only to the duty under dispute or by including interest and penalty.

Analysis: The instructions governing departmental appeals applied the monetary threshold to the duty or tax under dispute, and the clarificatory paragraph showed that the limit was meant to operate on the disputed amount and not on the total demand. The record showed that a part of the demand had already been adjusted, with the balance disputed amount remaining below the prescribed limit. No exception in the instructions justified adding interest and penalty to cross the threshold in the facts of the case. Since the object of the instructions was to curb low-value litigation, the Revenue's appeal before the Tribunal was not maintainable.

Conclusion: The appeal before the Tribunal was not maintainable because the disputed duty was below the monetary limit, and interest and penalty were not to be added for computing that limit. The conclusion is in favour of the assessee.

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