TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (9) TMI 484
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....er section 76 and 78 of Finance Act, 1994 in order no. Raigad/ADC/02/10-11 dated 26th May 2010 of the original authority and accorded relief to the assessee, M/s SRK Enterprises. 2. A Committee of Commissioners reviewed the impugned order and, upon authorization to Deputy Commissioner of Service Tax, Raigad vide order in F. No. V2(27)128/S.Tax/Rgd/11-12 dated 8th December 2011, appeal was filed on 16th December 2011. Having discovered thereafter that the composition of the Committee, which had erroneously included Commissioner of Central Excise, Belapur instead of Commissioner of Service Tax - II, Mumbai, was not in accordance with the constitution specified in the notification, the competent Committee, vide its order dat....
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....tion 35B(2) of Central Excise Act, 1944 is a necessary pre-requisite to authorizing a designated Central Excise officer to file an appeal. Reference was made to the decision of the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana in Commissioner of Central Excise, Rohtak v. Elegan Enterprises [2015 (323) ELT 333 (P&H)]. It is contended that the dispute referred to the Tribunal by Revenue had originated with a Committee which was not competent to decide. It is alleged that the present application had been made with intent to avoid placing the appellant-Commissioner within the discretionary jurisdiction of the Tribunal and to confer a new lease of life to the unauthorized appeal filed earlier by circumventing the procedure prescribed by law. It i....
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.... are, nevertheless, perturbed that the direct method of filing a fresh appeal is being attempted to be by-passed and, more particularly, on an issue that does not entail such far-reaching consequence as to warrant tacit approval to an unauthorizedly filed appeal. We are also concerned about the circumstances and the manner in which this is attempted as it is on a rare occasion that delay in filing an appeal is not condoned. 7. In all ages, administration of tax has been characterised by the unequal footing in which the individual is placed vis-`-vis the might of the Sate. Many a rebellion can be traced to the injustices perpetrated by tax the collector. Safeguards against absolutism in levying of taxes, such as the Magna Carta,....
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....ed to officials of the tax administration in the exercise of this power must be all the more rigorous than otherwise. This is an imperative as an appeal by Revenue is not a burden to them but ties up the assessee in legal wrangles despite having been held as compliant by lower departmental authorities. The decision to continue the adversarial relationship and to prolong litigation is not in our hands but, to the extent that our discretion may abet such uncertainty, we would have to be convinced that the circumstances are not such as to cause doubts about the bona fides of the prayer for departure from the normal. It is in that light that this prayer is being scrutinized. 10. The decision cited in this Miscellaneous Application appear to be....
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.... The authorization and review order of the authorized committee are dated. The new authorization, which cannot be questioned on any score, directs the authorized officer to file the appeal. The analysis of the impugned order is eloquently elaborate and the relief articulated in the prayer is specific. Oddly, it does not include a plea for condonation of the manifest delay. It would appear that the committee was not made aware of the inordinate delay in filing the appeal in consequence of the fresh review. This glaring lapse can be rectified only by the authorized committee and rectificatory action sought by the authorized officer. 13. The plea for substitution by new authorization and deemed acceptance of earlier appeal has been made....