TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1996 (2) TMI 145
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....uous and is accordingly dismissed. One of the petitioners in Special Beave Petition (C) No. 20049 of 1991, Mrs. Ameen [fourth petitioner] has also expired pending the Special Leave Petition. The said Special Leave Petition accordingly becomes infructuous insofar as the said petitioner is concerned. Of course, so far as other petitioners are concerned, the Special Leave Petition still survives. 2.Leave granted. Heard learned counsel for the parties. 3.Godrej, one of the corporate giants of this country, manufactures, among other goods, refrigerators. These refrigerators are packed in polythene covering only when they are to be delivered to dealers situated at a short distance from the factory but where they have to be delivered at distant places, they are packed in Corrugated Fibre Containers [C.F.Cs.] to protect them from damage in the course of transport and for convenient handling. In the proceedings relating to valuation under Section 4 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 for the period 1976-78, the question arose whether the value of C.F.Cs. should be included in the value of refrigerators for the purpose of value under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act. Godrej pleade....
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....e to be obtained as if they were written between May, l 976 and February, 1979. It were these letters prepared with an eye upon the principles enunciated in Bombay Tyre International - which were sought to be filed before the learned Single Judge at the hearing of Writ Petition No. 1110 of 1983 in March, 1984 but which were not actually looked into or relied upon by the learned Single Judge in view of the objection raised by the Revenue. At the time the letters were sought to be filed, the Revenue was, of course, not aware that they were fabricated. But the seizure of the said letter written by Sri Hathi (in course of searches conducted in June, 1987) convinced the Revenue that the said letters were all fabricated to buttress Godrej's case in the light of the decision in Bombay Tyre International. In the Special Leave Petition filed in this Court, the Revenue filed copies of the said letters along with the aforementioned letter of Sri Hathi contending that Godrej was guilty of fabricating evidence and of trying to mislead the Court by producing such fabricated evidence. It prayed that the writ petition filed by Godrej should be dismissed on the said ground alone without going into ....
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....ntending all along, i.e., before this Court as well as the Bombay High Court that inasmuch as Godrej has indulged in clear fabrication of evidence and has tried to defraud the court on the basis of such documents, it should be dealt with sternly so that it would serve as a lesson to others. It was submitted that any indulgent attitude in such matters will send a wrong signal and would serve as an encouragement to persons similarly minded. The writ petition was, however, disposed of under what is called "Minutes of the Order" on March 12, 1990. The Order reads : "MINUTES OF THE ORDER Petitioners agree and undertake to pay on or before 15th1. March, 1990 the sum of Rs. 3.80 crores (approximately) comprising of the excise duty of Rs. 26 lakhs (approximately) for the period April, 1979 to March, 1980 and Rs. 3.54 crores (approximately) for the period February, 1983 to February, 1987 being amount of duty payable on secondary packing. The aforesaid payment will be without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both the parties in all pending petitions before High Court (save and except those relating to the question of inclusion of cost of secondary packing in assessable value). I....
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....Chief Justice of that Court. The Division Bench heard Godrej and Sri Nauroji [Non-Executive Director of Godrej] and passed orders impugned herein, directing the Registrar of the Court to lay a complaint before an appropriate criminal court under Section 192 of the Indian Penal Code in accordance with law against (1) Godrej (2) Sri K.N. Nauroji (3) Sri P.D. Law (4) Dr. K.R. Hathi (5) K.S. Gurumurthy (6) P.C. Shah (7) N.H. Wadia (8) A.D. Shah (9) Mandakini Ameen (10) J.V. Udani and (11) M.K. Nanavati. Of the eleven persons, six to eleven are the dealers. 10. These Special Leave Petitions were entertained by this Court on December, 1991 and the operation of the impugned order stayed. It was directed that Special Leave Petitions shall be posted for hearing in the first week of March, 1992. The Special Leave Petitions, however, surfaced only after a period of more than three years when they were posted before the Bench of Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.P. Bharucha and Hon'ble Mr. Justice B.N. Kirpal on October 19, 1995. The Bench directed that the Special Leave Petitions be posted before a Bench of which Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.P. Bharucha is not a Member. The matters were then posted before a B....
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....buttress its case before the learned Single Judge on the basis of the said documents. It is another matter that they succeeded in their writ petition de hors the said fabricated material. When, however, the letter of Sri Hathi was discovered during the searches conducted by the Revenue in June, 1987 and its misdeed stood exposed, Godrej was put on the defensive. The initiative passed to Revenue which contended not only that the writ petition filed by Godrej should be dismissed on the said ground but that it should be dealt with in a manner that it serves as a lesson to others. It is for this reason that the Special Leave Petition filed by the Revenue was allowed by this Court and the matter sent back to the High Court for deciding the writ petition in the light of the said letters. The High Court was asked to look into the relevance, validity and admissibility of the said letters - which admittedly included the genuineness of the letters. With this turn of events, Godrej naturally became nervous. It did not want to proceed with the writ petition. It approached the Central Excise authorities at various levels for a settlement but that did not materialise. It also sought to withdraw ....
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.... direction which it did on the merits of the case, it does not appear to have bestowed sufficient attention to the above aspect and its impact while deciding upon the expediency contemplated by Section 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Division Bench should have considered whether it is expedient to direct prosecution when the learned Single Judge had chosen not to make such a direction - for one or the other reason pointed out above and on account of the silence on the part of Revenue for a period of fifteen months. It is quite possible that the Revenue was satisfied with the Order ["Minutes of the Order"] dated March 12, 1990 but changed its minds after fifteen months. It is not a question of jurisdiction or power but one touching the question of "expediency" contemplated by Section 340 of the Criminal Procedure Code. 16.On a consideration of the relevant circumstances mentioned supra including the fact that Godrej has paid up all amounts due accepting the contentions of the Revenue, we think that an order levying penal interest would meet the ends of justice instead of the direction for prosecution made in the impugned order. We may mention that when during the course of ....