Assignment of appeals under excise and service tax rules: appeals reassigned to designated officers for Orders in Appeal.
The Board, invoking provisions of the Central Excise Rules, Service Tax Rules and transitional notification under the CGST Act, assigns appeals filed on or after 1 July 2017 under the Central Excise Act or the Finance Act (relating to pre CGST matters) to named Central Excise officers listed in the Annexure for the purpose of passing Orders in Appeal. The Annexure specifies appeal numbers, assessee names and registrations, and the designated officer (name, designation, station) for each appeal.

Interim Boards for Settlement operationalisation: members nominated for zonal settlement panels to administer procedural functions.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs nominates specified senior Central Excise and Customs officers as members of zonal Interim Boards for Settlement, designates the Secretary of each board as an Additional or Joint Commissioner holding charge of the Chief Commissioner's Unit in Member 1's jurisdiction to handle administrative duties, and empowers Member 1 to prescribe necessary ministerial staff to assist the board.

Appeal re-assignment directs specified central excise and service tax appeals to designated officers for Orders in Appeal.
The Central Board, invoking rule 3 of the Central Excise Rules, 2017 and rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 read with the enabling provision of the CGST Act, assigns appeals filed on or after 1 July 2017 under section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or section 85 of the Finance Act, 1994 to the Central Excise Officer specified in the Annexure for the purpose of passing Orders in Appeal. The Annexure lists appeal numbers, assessee details, registration numbers and the designated officer for each appeal.

Monetary thresholds for departmental appeals in legacy indirect tax matters preserve challenges involving constitutional validity and ultra vires instruments.
Departmental appeals in legacy Central Excise and Service Tax matters are governed by revised monetary thresholds for CESTAT, High Court and Supreme Court proceedings, with application to pending cases. Adverse judgments must nevertheless be contested where constitutional validity is challenged or a notification, instruction, order or circular is held illegal or ultra vires. Non-filing under these thresholds does not amount to departmental acceptance of the issue and does not bar proceedings in another matter involving the same or similar question of law.

Adjudication monetary limits align central excise and GST show cause notices on tobacco to a single adjudicating authority.
A tiered adjudication scheme sets monetary limits for issuing show cause notices and adjudication of central excise duty/CENVAT credit for Chapter 24 commodities: Superintendents up to twenty lakh, Deputy/Assistant Commissioners above twenty lakh up to two crore, and Additional/Joint Commissioners above two crore. The limits apply to notices issued from 01.07.2017 pending adjudication; otherwise prior circular limits prevail. Central Excise notices arising alongside GST notices will be assigned to the CGST adjudicating authority so the same or a senior authority decides both matters, with specified assignment powers for senior Commissioners and DGGI officers.

E-office submission requirement: SLP proposals accepted only through specified e office node and LIMBS ID as valid proposals.
Instruction rescinds the 30.08.2023 Instruction and amends the 14.03.2022 Instruction by revising the designated e office entry to SEENA-CBIC-SUP(S)-CX-8A SECTION - CX-8A Section. It requires that SLP proposals be forwarded only via e office mode to be treated as valid, accompanied by all relevant documents per the Board Circular, and that field formations follow specified prior Instructions while sensitising staff to the e office and LIMBS identifiers provided.

Special Leave Petition filing approvals require prior jurisdictional concurrence before forwarding, with supporting approval documents.
Proposals for initiating Special Leave Petitions must be forwarded to the central authority only after obtaining prior approval or concurrence from the relevant jurisdictional Pr. Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner/Pr. Director General/Director General within the prescribed time limit, and a copy of the letter, correspondence, or note-sheet evidencing such approval must be attached when forwarding the proposal.

Appointment of Common Adjudicating Authority assigns adjudication of specified show cause notices to Mumbai South officer.
The Board appoints the Pr. Commissioner/Commissioner, CGST & CX, Mumbai South Commissionerate as the Central Excise Officer to adjudicate the show cause notice dated 17.10.2006 issued to M/s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., centralising adjudication of multiple office specific notices and naming the local officers to whom the Central Excise Officer will be answerable.

Appointment of Central Excise Officer for adjudication of specified show cause notices against M/s Ind Aust Maritime.
Using powers under rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 read with clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the Board appoints the Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner, CGST & CX, Belapur Commissionerate as the Central Excise Officer empowered to exercise the powers of Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 for adjudication of the listed show cause notices, and directs that the specified SCNs issued to M/s Ind Aust Maritime Pvt. Ltd. be made answerable to the officers named in the table.

SLP proposals must be submitted only via LIMBS and e office, with complete documents in single receipt mode.
The instruction replaces the designated CBIC contact with Varun Chadha for the CX-8A Section and directs that SLP proposals must be submitted only via LIMBS and e-office. It provides the LIMBS identifier and e-office node for the Legal Cell and mandates forwarding SLP proposals with all relevant documents in single receipt mode on e-office in accordance with the Board's circular.

Appointment of adjudicating authority centralises Chapter V Finance Act adjudication for specified show cause notices.
Pursuant to rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 and clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 of the CGST Act, 2017, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs appoints the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner, CGST & Central Excise, Mumbai East Commissionerate as the Central Excise Officer to exercise Chapter V powers of the Finance Act, 1994 for adjudication of the listed show cause notices against M/s Shell India Markets Pvt. Ltd., thereby centralising adjudicatory competence in the named officer for the identified matters.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority: Pr. Commissioner/Commissioner tasked with adjudicating a service tax SCN and reporting to Commissioner.
The Board appoints the Pr. Commissioner/Commissioner, CGST & CX, Varanasi as the Central Excise Officer to exercise Chapter V powers of the Finance Act, 1994 for adjudication of the Show Cause Notice issued to M/s A.K. Construction Co., specifying the SCN reference and date, and making that officer answerable to the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner, CGST & CX, Agartala to ensure administrative oversight of the adjudicatory process.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority: Pr. Commissioner CGST & CX Patna-I empowered to adjudicate specified show-cause notices.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs appoints the Pr. Commissioner/Commissioner, CGST & CX, Patna-I as the Central Excise Officer empowered to exercise Chapter V powers of the Finance Act, 1994 for adjudication of specified show-cause notices issued to Shri Lalit Mohan Sharma (Hi-Tech Equipment Services), with the listed SCNs made answerable to the Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner, CGST & CX, Aizawl and to the Pr. Commissioner/Commissioner, CGST & CX, Patna-I respectively.

Adjudication appointment under Service Tax Rules assigns Central Excise Officer to adjudicate show cause notices for Subhash Earthmovers.
The order appoints the Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner, CGST & CX, Aizawl as the Central Excise Officer under rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 read with clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 of the CGST Act, 2017 to adjudicate specified show cause notices issued to Shri Subhash Sharma (M/s Subash Earthmovers) and makes each notice answerable to the Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner named in the order's table.

Appointment of Central Excise Officer to adjudicate show cause notices under Chapter V of the Finance Act against a specified assessee.
The Central Board appoints the Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner, CGST & CX, Ahmedabad North as the Central Excise Officer to exercise Chapter V Finance Act adjudication powers for specified show cause notices issued to M/s Alpesh Kumar Gokulbhai Patel and directs that each listed SCN be answerable to the designated Central Excise Officers at Ujjain, Ahmedabad North, and Noida respectively.

Appointment of Common Adjudicating Authority: adjudication of specified service tax show cause notices assigned to a designated Central Excise Officer.
Appointment of a Common Adjudicating Authority: the Board appoints the Additional Commissioner/Joint Commissioner, CGST & CX, Surat as Central Excise Officer empowered under Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, by virtue of rule 3 Service Tax Rules, 1994 and clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 CGST Act, 2017, to adjudicate the listed Show Cause Notices against M/s Global Infrastructure, with each SCN made answerable to the Central Excise Officer specified in the order.

Pre-deposit payment method: payments via FORM GST DRC-03 not valid for central excise/service tax pre-deposits; GST reference clarified.
Payments made through FORM GST DRC-03 were characterised as not a valid mode for making pre-deposits under section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994 read with section 35F, but the prior instruction's incidental reference to the GST Act was solely comparative and therefore the last sentence of part 2 regarding GST is infructuous; the clarification should be widely publicised to prevent implications for CGST appeals.

Appointment of Common Adjudicating Authority designates Mumbai South Commissioner to adjudicate service tax show cause notices.
The Principal Commissioner/Commissioner, Mumbai South Commissionerate is appointed as the Central Excise Officer to exercise powers under Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 for adjudication of specified service tax show cause notices issued to M/s Lawson Tours & Travels (India) Pvt. Ltd., under rule 3 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 read with clause (e) of sub section (2) of section 174 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, superseding the prior order; individual SCNs are allocated as answerable to the officers named in the accompanying table.

Appeal reassignment: administrative reallocation of pending Central Excise and Service Tax appeals to designated officers for Orders in Appeal.
Order No. 01/2023 dated 9 February 2023 reassigns appeals filed on or before 30 June 2017 under section 35 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 or section 85 of the Finance Act, 1994. Exercising powers under the Central Excise Rules, 2017, Service Tax Rules, 1994 and relevant CGST provisions, the CBIC, superseding Order No. 04/2021, reallocates specified appeal files to named Central Excise or Central Tax officers (as listed in the Annexure) for passing Orders in Appeal.

Discharge certificate compliance: update withdrawn-appeal statuses and pursue unpaid voluntary disclosures under SVLDRS to protect revenue.
The Board directs jurisdictional officers to pursue cases where declarants filed under Voluntary Disclosure but did not discharge liabilities, to update appellate records so discharge certificates correspond to withdrawn appeals under section 127, and to coordinate with the Office of the Pr. DG Systems & Data Management to publish a watch list of non-SVLDRS challans and resolve technical issues preventing issuance of discharge certificates.