Maintainability of revenue appeal under Central Excise law kept for preliminary hearing, with Tribunal direction stayed meanwhile.

Maintainability of the revenue's appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act against an order made under Rule 41 of the CESTAT (Procedure) Rules was raised as a preliminary objection and had to be decided before any merits review. Because compliance with the Tribunal's direction would have rendered the appeal infructuous, interim protection was warranted pending that determination. The appeal was directed to be listed for hearing on the preliminary objection, and the Tribunal's order and direction dated 4 July 2025 were stayed in the meantime.

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Issues: Whether the revenue's appeal under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944 was maintainable against an order passed under Rule 41 of the CESTAT (Procedure) Rules, 1982, and whether the Tribunal's order dated 4 July 2025 should remain stayed pending hearing of the preliminary objection.

Analysis: The maintainability objection was expressly raised and required prior consideration before any examination of the substantial questions of law. In the meantime, compliance with the Tribunal's direction would render the appeal infructuous, so interim protection was necessary until the appeal could be taken up for hearing on the preliminary issue.

Outcome: The appeal was directed to be listed for hearing on the preliminary objection, and the Tribunal's order and direction dated 4 July 2025 were stayed in the meantime.

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