2010 (6) TMI 161

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....pellate Tribunal, West Zonal Bench at Mumbai ("Tribunal" for short) raising question of law; wherein central excise duty recoverable from the respondent, if at all Revenue succeeds, would be in the sum of Rs. 1,21,219/-. The question sought to be raised in this appeal relates to the imposition of penalty on the respondent. The said issue was considered by the Tribunal in para-10 of its judgment with which no fault can be found. The view taken by the Tribunal is a reasonable arid possible view. Hence appeal is liable to be dismissed for want of substantial question of law. 3. At this juncture, it is relevant to note that number of appeals are being filed before this Court; wherein the customs duty and/or central excise duty involved is ne....

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....ases; wherein the duty/tax impact is negligible. The similar policy is already in vogue so far as Income Tax Department is concerned. The Central Board of Direct Taxes ("CBDT" for short) vide its circular dated 27th March, 2000 followed by other circulars dated 24th October, 2005 and 15th May, 2008 has taken a policy decision not to file appeals or references wherein the tax effect is less than the amount prescribed in the instructions issued from time to time, so as to reduce litigation before the High Courts and the Supreme Court. The said policy decision taken by the CBDT has definitely reduced volume of litigation, with the result, their officers are in a position to concentrate on the cases involving heavy stakes. The validity, impa....

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....e question of law will repeatedly arise, either in the case concerned or in similar case, appeal should be filed without being hindered by the monetary limits. The present instructions seems even to limit the issues in so far as the same question of law or recurring issue except to the extent provided in para. 5. (Emphasis supplied) 6. It has, therefore, become necessary for the Board to impress upon the departmental heads not to go for appeals and litigation wherein tax or duty impact is not substantial, otherwise it results in harassment to the assessees and creates unnecessary burden on the infrastructure of the Revenue department. The "let the Court to decide" attitude needs to be given go bye. 7. On the aforesaid backdrop, we ....