Appellate forum under the Gold Control Act examined for orders passed by an Additional Collector acting as Gold Control Officer.

Under the Gold (Control) Act, 1968, appellate jurisdiction over an order passed by an Additional Collector acting as a Gold Control Officer depends on the Act's own appellate scheme and the relevant notifications. The Tribunal treated the core issue as whether such an order lay to the Appellate Tribunal and whether the Collector's proposed question was referable as a question of law. It accepted that the proper appellate forum for an order made in that capacity was a legal issue arising from the earlier order. The question was therefore referred to the High Court for opinion and the reference application was allowed.

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Issues: Whether an appeal against the order passed by an Additional Collector of Central Excise acting as a Gold Control Officer lies to the Appellate Tribunal, and whether the question raised by the Collector was fit to be referred to the High Court.

Analysis: The application was examined in the light of the scheme of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968, the relevant notifications issued thereunder, and the appellate provisions contained in Sections 80 and 81. The Tribunal noted that the earlier order under challenge had treated the Additional Collector, while exercising adjudicatory powers under the Gold (Control) Act, as acting in the capacity of a Gold Control Officer and had proceeded on the basis that the Gold (Control) Act must be read on its own terms for determining appellate forums. The Tribunal further held that the point sought to be raised, though not precisely framed, clearly concerned the proper appellate authority against an order passed by the Additional Collector in such capacity, and that this was a question of law arising from the earlier order.

Conclusion: The question was referred to the High Court for opinion, and the reference application was allowed.

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