Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme declaration cannot be rejected solely for no pending appeal when a show cause notice already exists.

A declaration under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 could not be rejected merely because no appeal, reference, writ petition or revision was pending, where a show cause notice demanding duty and proposing penalty had already been issued. The High Court treated the existing show cause notice as bringing the matter within the scheme's relevant coverage and held that the exclusion for absence of pending appellate proceedings was not decisive on its own. On that basis, the rejection of Form 1B was unsustainable, and the declaration had to be considered under the scheme.

---

---

Issues: Whether the petitioner's declaration under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998 could be rejected on the ground that there was no pending dispute before any forum, when a show cause notice had already been issued.

Analysis: The declaration was examined in the context of Section 95 of the Finance Act, 1998. The authority had rejected the declaration by relying only on the clause dealing with the absence of a pending appeal, reference, writ petition, or revision. However, the record showed that a show cause notice demanding duty and proposing penalty had already been issued. The relevant exclusion in relation to non-issuance of a show cause notice was therefore not attracted, and the declaration could not be refused merely because no appeal or similar proceeding was pending.

Conclusion: The rejection of the Form 1B declaration was unsustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to have the declaration considered under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme, 1998.

Ratio Decidendi: A declaration under the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme cannot be rejected by invoking only the absence of pending appellate proceedings when the case is otherwise covered by the clause relating to an existing show cause notice.

---