2022 (5) TMI 1117

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....ortant to note that, in the connected matters, a coordinate bench of this Court vis-à-vis the very same impugned order i.e., 20.04.2017 has rendered a judgment dated 16.05.2018 in a batch of matters, with the lead matter being CEAC 7/2018, titled Prabhat Zarda Factory Co. vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, Delhi-I. 2.1. It is not in dispute [and something we have noticed hereinabove] that the substantive questions of law which arose in the connected matters, including CEAC 7/2018, would arise in this case as well. 2.2. The substantive questions of law are noted in paragraph 2 of the coordinate bench order dated 16.05.2018. For the sake of convenience, the said paragraph is extracted hereinafter: "2. These appeals were....

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....ase, the impugned order on all aspects and contentions merely reproduces the order-in-original, without specifically and independently examining and dealing with diverse contentions. Reference and independent and exhaustive elucidation of the factual contentions raised by the appellants and consideration of legal issues based upon the said contentions is conspicuously lacking and missing. The impugned order suffers on this account. Supreme Court in Kranti Associates Pvt. Ltd and Others. Vs. Masood Ahmed Khan and Others, 2011 (273) E.L.T. 345 (SC), had examined and elucidated on importance and significance of reasoned and speaking order by quasi judicial authorities. In the said case, National Consumer Redressal Commission, it was observed, ....

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.... law and constitutional governance is in favour of reasoned decisions based on relevant facts. This is virtually the lifeblood of judicial decision-making justifying the principle that reason is the soul of justice. (i) Judicial or even quasi-judicial opinions these days can be as different as the judges and authorities who deliver them. All these decisions serve one common purpose which is to demonstrate by reason that the relevant factors have been objectively considered. This is important for sustaining the litigants' faith in the justice delivery system. (j) Insistence on reason is a requirement for both judicial accountability and transparency. (k) If a judge or a quasi-judicial authority is not candid en....

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....rocess". 9. We do not think that the impugned order meets the mandate and legal requirements set out in the aforesaid summarization made by the Supreme Court in Kranti Associates Pvt. Ltd. (supra). The impugned order, even if assuming the conclusion was justified, would faulter on the said account. Reference, in this regard, can be also made to the decision of the Delhi High Court in Rakesh Arora Vs. Commissioner of Customs, 2012 (276) E.L.T. 181 (Del.) and Nitesh Kumar Kedia Vs. Commissioner of Customs, Import & General, 2012 (284) E.L.T. 321 (Del.). 10. In these circumstances, we would hold that the impugned order fails to independently and specifically deal with and examine the contentions raised by the appellants. It fails to meet....