TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (9) TMI 146
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.... WP.No.11457 of 2023 For the Appellants/Petitioners : Mr.AR.L.Sundaresan, Additional Solicitor General assisted by Mr.M.Santhanaraman, Senior Standing Counsel For the Respondents : Mr.M.Ravi (for R1) R2 - Tribunal COMMON JUDGMENT DR. ANITA SUMANTH., J. Part A : WA.No.2388 of 2022 W.P.No.17798 of 2022 had been filed by the unsuccessful writ petitioner before us, seeking a declaration that all action and proceedings on the file of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Chief Commissioner, Chennai, Customs Zone, pursuant to a complaint filed on 24.05.2022 by XYZ/R4 ('complaint'/'sexual harassment complaint') and to investigate which, an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) had been constituted and a notice issued by the ICC on 04.06.2022, were illegal and ultra vires. 2. The Writ Petition had been dismissed on 09.09.2022 as not maintainable. The learned Judge has, in the order impugned in this Writ Appeal, opined that there are disputed questions of fact in regard to various contentions raised by the appellant and by XYZ, including whether the lodging of the complaint is within the time stipulated under Section 9 of the Prevention of Sexual ....
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....renuous if not greater efforts have been taken by learned Senior Counsel appearing for the learned counsel for the official Respondents as well as R4, who reiterate the contents of the complaint, and takes us minutely through various provisions of the POSH Act, relevant Regulations, the Service Rules, the SVLDRS Scheme and the technological processes involved in the processing of Declarations under that Scheme, to illustrate that no fault can be attributed to XYZ in the matter. 9. XYZ had filed the complaint on 24.05.2022 before R1 alleging sexual harassment at work place by the appellant. That complaint, the appellant points out, has been given on the heels of a memorandum issued to R4/XYZ by the Additional Commissioner (P&V) on 28.02.2022 calling for an explanation for certain lapses in processing the Declaration filed by one Sundaram Sathishkumar, Proprietor of Heaven Engineering, Chennai (in short 'assessee'), under the SVLDRS scheme that had been floated by the Customs Department for settlement of tax arrears. 10. Hence it is the case of the appellant that the sexual harassment complaint is nothing but a counter blast by R4 to the investigation that has been launched aga....
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....which strikes a discordant note as far as the allegations of sexual harassment, are concerned. XYZ has, in complaint dated 24.05.2022 belaboured on the provisions of the SVLDRS Scheme under the SVLDRS Act, 2019 and outlined the procedures followed to process the application of the assessee under the SVLDRS Scheme. 17. According to her, her actions were correct and any inquiry would vindicate those actions in full. She reiterates that it is only on account of her rebuffing the appellant, that the memo was issued to her in the first place. On the other hand, the appellant would submit that the complaint has itself been filed only to divert attention from the memo issue to R4 for her lapses in duty. 18. R4 has put forth three requests in complaint dated 24.05.2022. Firstly, that immediate action be taken under her complaint dated 24.05.2022 for sexual harassment by the appellant, secondly, remove the file relating to the memorandum issued to her in regard to the SVLDRS application and assign the same to a senior officer who may enquire into it independently and without bias, and thirdly to look into the reasons why the appellant had not adjudicated the show cause notice issued t....
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....oided his calls, the mental pressure of ignoring calls of a senior officer weighed heavily on her. c) He also spoke inappropriately about the physical needs of human beings, knowing that she was living alone at that time. His statements relating to the need of humans for physical closeness seemed very much like advances made to her. d) In April, 2020, during the Covid lockdown he asked her to accompany him to a Bar in Crown Plaza adding that he knew the owner of the hotel and hence it would be specially opened just for the two of them. e) Since she had blocked his mobile number after this conversation where she had not accepted his invitation, the next day, he called her on the landline. f) Then, in December, 2021, she ran into him outside the lift and along with her batchmate, who was with her, she was asked to come to his room where he made series of sarcastic comments. According to her, even her colleague noted both her discomfiture and his sarcastic attitude. g) The appellant was stated to have been speaking to various persons about R4 disparagingly, also stating that he wanted to find some material that he could use against her in a....
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.... the complaint and intimation of the Constitution of the Committee was issued to the appellant on 04.06.2022, upon receipt of which, on 07.06.2022, he denies all the allegations. He also objects to the inclusion of the member at serial number 1 as part of the Committee, since both that member and Mr.Ganta Ravindranath, Principal Commissioner were part of the Designated Committee, involved in the processing of SVLDRS applications in that Commissionerate including the application of the assessee, Heaven Engineering. 28. The appellant had also requested that any other member recommended by Mr.Ganta Ravindranath may be excluded from the purview of the ICC. That being an interim reply, the appellant has sought time to file a detailed reply. Ultimately, a detailed reply had been filed by the appellant, changes had been made to the constitution of the Committee by excluding the member at serial number 1 and proceedings had been commenced by the ICC. 29. The constitution of the ICC does not inspire confidence. Learned Additional Solicitor General accedes to the position that Ms. Manasa Gangotri Kata ought not to have featured in the ICC as a member. That apart, Ms.M.Sheela, who was a....
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....s that the Official Respondents cannot be expected to follow proper procedure unless compelled to do so, for the purpose of which we issue the following directions: (i) The ICC that has issued Report dated 30.07.2022 stands disbanded and that Inquiry report shall be eschewed. (ii) Complaint of R4 dated 22.05.2022 stands restored to the file of the Principal Commissioner for disposal afresh. (iii) An Internal Complaints Committee be set up de novo, wherein none of the earlier committee members shall be included. It is to be ensured that the members of the Committee are selected in line with the provisions of the Act and Rules as prescribed in this regard. (iv) The Committee shall be constituted within a period of one week from date of uploading of the order, and the first hearing before the Committee shall be scheduled with a week from its constitution. (v) Notices of hearing shall be issued well in advance to the parties, including R4, witnesses, as well as any others that the Committee deems necessary including the Appellant at their discretion, calling upon them to appear for the hearings before the Committee. (vi) The ICC sha....
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....efined under the relevant service Rules, should be initiated by the employer in accordance with the Rules. 40. Coming to the question of complaint mechanism, the Court clarified that whether or not the conduct complained of constituted an offence under law or a breach of service rules, an appropriate complaint mechanism should be created within the organization for redressal of complaints by a victim providing specifically for time bound disposals. 41. In the record of proceedings dated 26.04.2004, the Court directed as follows: '2....Complaints Committee as envisaged by the Supreme Court in its judgment in Vishaka V. State of Rajasthan ((1997) 6 SCC 241) at p.253, will be deemed to be an inquiry authority for the purposes of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 (hereinafter called "the CCS Rules") and the report of the Complaints Committee shall be deemed to be an inquiry report under the CCS Rules. Thereafter the disciplinary authority will act on the report in accordance with the Rules.' 42. In the final judgment of Medha Kotwal Lele V Union of India and Others [(2013) 1 SCC 297], where the compliance report of various States/Union Territories have ....
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....ervant; (b) a list of documents by which, and a list of witnesses by whom, the articles of charge are proposed to be sustained. (4) (a) The Disciplinary Authority shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Government servant a copy of the articles of charge, the statement of the imputations of misconduct or misbehaviour and a list of documents and witnesses by which each article or charges is proposed to be sustained. (b) On receipt of the articles of charge, the Government servant shall be required to submit his written statement of defence, if he so desires, and also state whether he desires to be heard in person, within a period of fifteen days, which may be further extended for a period not exceeding fifteen days at a time for reasons to be recorded in writing by the Disciplinary Authority or any other Authority authorised by the Disciplinary Authority on his behalf: Provided that under no circumstances, the extension of time for filing written statement of defence shall exceed forty-five days from the date of receipt of articles of charge. 5 (a) On receipt of the written statement of defence, the disciplinary authority may itself inquire ....
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....is behalf, but may not engage a legal practitioner for the purpose, unless the Presenting Officer appointed by the disciplinary authority is a legal practitioner, or, the disciplinary authority, having regard to the circumstances of the case, so permits; Provided that the Government servant may take the assistance of any other Government servant posted at any other station, if the inquiring authority having regard to the circumstances of the case, and for reasons to be recorded in writing, so permits. Note : The Government servant shall not take the assistance of any other Government servant who has three pending disciplinary cases on hand in which he has to give assistance. (b) The Government servant may also take the assistance of a retired Government servant to present the case on his behalf, subject to such conditions as may be specified by the President from time to time by general or special order in this behalf. 44. Office Memoranda and Instructions have also been issued setting out Guidelines for the procedure to be followed in the processing of sexual harassment complaints. Under the following Instruction, the Chairpersons of Internal Complain....
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....harassment, integrating the relevant provisions of the CCA(CCS) Rules as well, and splitting the inquiry into two stages. The relevant parts are extracted below: (C) INQUIRY INTO COMPLAINT [FIRST STAGE] The Complaints Committees may act on complaints of sexual harassment when they receive them directly or through administrative authorities etc, or when they take cognizance of the same suo-moto. As per Section 9 (1) of the Act, the aggrieved woman or complainant is required to make a complaint within three months of the incident and in case there has been a series of incidents, three months of the last incident. The Complaints Committee may however extend the time limit for reasons to be recorded in writing, if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the complainant from filing a complaint within the stipulated period. As mentioned above, the complaints of sexual harassment are required to be handled by Complaints Committee. On receipt of a complaint, facts of the allegation are required to be verified. This is called preliminary inquiry/fact finding inquiry or investigation. The Complaints Committee conducts the investigation. They may the....
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.... examine the report with a view to see as to whether a formal Charge Sheet needs to be issued to the Charged Officer. As per Rule 14(3), Charge Sheet is to be drawn by or on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority. In case the Disciplinary Authority decides on that course, the Charged Officer should be given an opportunity of replying to the Charge sheet. As per Rule 14 (5), a decision on conducting the inquiry has to be taken after consideration of the reply of the charged officer. If the Charged Officer admits the charges clearly and unconditionally, there will be no need for a formal inquiry against him and further action may be taken as per Rule 15 of the CCS (CCA) Rules. 48. The Supreme Court in the case of Nisha Priya Bhatia (Foot Note Infra (70)) has taken note of the position that a co-ordinated approach is the order of the day when dealing with sexual harassment complaints as against a Central Government employee stating so, at paragraph 97 thereof, extracted below: 97. Be that as it may, in our opinion, the petitioner seems to have confused two separate inquiries conducted under two separate dispensations as one cohesive process. The legal machinery to deal with ....
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.... any manner, reduce the vigour thereof. 49. Read together and in harmony, the procedure under the POSH Act as well as the CCA(CCS) Rules contemplate a three-pronged procedure for dealing with, sexual harassment complaints. 50. Firstly, the first proviso under Rule 14(2) has been inserted vide Government Instructions of the Department of Personnel and Training dated 01.07.2004, gazetted on 10.07.2004. It states that where there is a complaint of sexual harassment within the meaning of Rule 3(c) of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, the Complaints Committee established in each Ministry, Department or office for inquiring into such complaints, shall be deemed to be the inquiring authority appointed by the disciplinary authority for the purpose of the Rules. The procedure followed by the Complaints Committee shall, as far as practical be in accordance with the procedure set out under these Rules. 51. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Complaints Committee or ICC, would conduct a broad, fact-finding investigation, the purpose of which is to ascertain prima facie, if the allegations of sexual harassment are plausible. As the memorandum states, documentary evidence m....
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....he Complaints Committee established in that Department. 58. It is for this reason that, in OM dated 04.11.2022, it has been cautioned that the Complaints Committee which embarked on the primary fact finding exercise and the inquiry committee constituted under Rule 14(5)(a) understand the dual nature of the roles that the Committee would play, and the need to be conscious to eliminate bias. 59. To summarize, the Complaints Committee which we have now directed to be constituted at paragraph 38 of the Order, will first wear the hat of a Complaints Committee/ICC under the POSH Act and carry out a primary fact finding inquiry, gathering materials, documentary evidence and record statements of witnesses including the complainant. 60. The OM does not specifically refer to the recording of statement of the officer as against whom complaint has been made but we leave it to the discretion of the Committee to be formed, as to whether they would prefer to record his statement as well. We hasten to add that no direction has been given in this regard and it is for the ICC to decide on this aspect. 61. As far as the apprehensions expressed by the appellant in regard to the last four l....
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....d further examination of those witnesses or of new witnesses, the complainant and the appellant may be undertaken by the ICC, again, at their discretion. 68. Once the Report is furnished to the disciplinary authority, that authority shall take a decision in accordance with the CCA(CCS) Rules and applicable OMs as to whether proceedings are to be taken further, and proceed accordingly. We note that the procedure contemplated, and that we have outlined above, provides for the furnishing of complete materials relating to the complaint and opportunity of hearing at three stages to the charged officer, firstly, on issuance of a charge sheet, secondly, before the Complaints Committee in the discharge of its functions as inquiry committee and thirdly, before the Disciplinary authority prior to completion of the proceedings. The element of natural justice is hence satisfied in full. 69. In answering the issues as above, we have taken note of the following citations made by the parties: Citations of the Appellant in W.A.No.2388 of 2022 1.M/s.Padmavathi Srinivasan V. The Joint Commissioner of GST & Central Excise (W.P.No.11797 of 2021 dated 23.02.2024) 2.M/s.....
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....tral University of Kerala and Others [(2020) 12 SCC 426] 19.Mohd. Mustafa v. Union of India & Others [Civil Appeal No.6905 of 2021 dated 16.11.2021] 20.State of Madhya Pradesh v. Sheetla Sahai and Others [(2009) 8 SCC 617] 21.Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Coal India Limited and Others v. Ananta Saha and Others [(2011) 5 SCC 142] 22.Ms.X v. Union of India and Others (SLP(C)Nos.10479-10481/2020 dated 02.02.2021) 23.Abhay Jain v. High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan and Another [2022 SCC OnLine SC 319] 24.Bharat v. State of Maharashtra, Through the Police Station and Another [2019 SCC OnLine Bom 1602] 25.Union of India and Others v. Gyan Chand Chattar [(2009) 12 SCC 78] 26.Anant R. Kulkarni v. Y.P.Education Society and Others [(2013) 6 SCC 515] 27.Zunjarrao Bhikaji Nagarkar v. Union of India and Others [(1999) 7 SCC 409] 28.Government of Tamil Nadu, Rep. by Secretary to Government, Environment and Forests Department, Fort St. George, Chennai-9. and others v. M.Subramanian (W.A.No.587 of 2008 dated 03.07.2008) 29.Suresh Nanda v. C.B.I. (Appeal (Crl.)No.179 of 2008 dated 24.01.2008) ....
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....) 5 SCC 678] 24.State of H.P. and Another v. Pawan Kumar Rajput and Others [(2006) 9 SCC 161] 25M.Ramasubramani v. The Central Administrative Tribunal, rep. by its Registrar, Madras Bench, High Court Buildings, Chennai-600 104 and others [2013 SCC OnLine Mad 3010] 26.Medha Kotwal Lele and Others v. Union of India and Others [(2013) 1 SCC 311] 27.XYZ v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others [2022 SCC OnLine SC 1002] 28.Apparel Export Promotion Council v. A.K.Chopra [(1999) 1 SCC 759] 29.M.Kavya & another v. The Chairman, University Grants Commission, New Delhi and others [2015-1-L.W. 835] 30.Ashok Kumar Singh v. University of Delhi & Ors. [2017 SCC OnLine Del 9935] 31.Rajneesh Khajuria v. Wockhardt Limited and Another [(2020) 3 SCC 86] 32.Nisha Priya Bhatia v. Union of India and Another [(2020) 13 SCC 56] 33.XYZ and Others v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Another [(2021) 16 SCC 179] 34.Dr.Punita K.Sodhi v. Union of India and Ors. (WP(C)No.367/2009 dated 09.09.2010) Part B - SVLDRS Declaration of M/s Heaven Engineering 70. One thing remains. The parties have advanced very detailed and ....
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....Disputes Resolution Scheme, 2019 had been framed under Finance (No.2) Act 2019 for settlement of tax arrears. The crux of their submissions, and what is germane for the purposes of this writ Appeal, would be Section 125 of the Scheme which prescribes eligibility of persons to make a Declaration under the Scheme. 17. Section 125 states that all persons shall be eligible to make a Declaration under the Scheme barring, in clause (e), those who have been subjected to an inquiry or investigation or audit and the amount of duty involved in the inquiry/investigation/audit has not been quantified on or before 30.06.2019 and in clause (f), a person making a voluntary disclosure after being subjected to any inquiry or investigation or audit. 18. The Declaration filed by the respondent undoubtedly contains an erroneous disclosure in relation to the selection of category. The categories available for selection are (i) Arrears (ii) Litigation (iii) Investigation, inquiry or Audit and (iv) Voluntary Disclosure . 19. In the present matter, investigation by the Enforcement and Compliance Management (ECM) Section, Chennai Outer Commissionerate has commenced in 2014. Yet a....
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....eptember, 2019 on the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019. Subsequently, the Board has received further references from field formations as well as from the trade seeking certain clarifications on the Scheme. 2. The references received by the Board have been examined, and the issues raised therein are clarified in the context of the various provisions of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 and Rules made there-under, as follows: ..... (ii) Under voluntary disclosure category, the Scheme makes two exclusions: (a) not being subjected to an inquiry or investigation or audit; or (b) having already filed a return but not paid the duty declared therein [Section 125(f)(i) and (ii)]. Some of the formations have reported difficulty in verifying these conditions as the proceedings may have been initiated by another formation. Though the Scheme provides that no verification will be carried out in cases of voluntary disclosure, they felt that there may still be a requirement to determine the eligibility to avail the Scheme. It is clarified that such declarations may be accepted without recourse to determination of eligibility as the Scheme provides ample ....
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....stigation or audit has also been defined [Sections 121(g) and 121(m)]. A doubt has been expressed as to whether benefit of the Scheme would be available in cases where documents like balance sheet, profit and loss account etc. are called for by department, while quoting authority of Section 14 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 etc. It is clarified that the Designated Committee concerned may take a view on merit, taking into account the facts and circumstances of each case as to whether the provisions of Section 125(1)(f) are attracted in such cases. ....... Yours sincerely Sd/- (Navraj Goyal) OSD(CX) 24. The Circulars, particularly Circular dated 25.09.2019 reiterates the requirement that the disclosure of information is true, and there can be no compromise in that regard. The relevant provision makes it clear that suppression of a material fact would efface the very Declaration and this is what has been emphasised in the Circulars. We had sought copies of the records under order dated 08.08.2025 in order to ascertain the sequence of events, and determine what exactly had transpired. 25. A compilation dated 11.08.2025 has been filed with extract....
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.... and no demand has been quantified as on 30.06.2019. 29. Notwithstanding the above bar, on 15.01.2020, an application under SVLDRS had been filed by the respondent in the name of 'Sundaram Sathish Kumar'. The registration number under the GST Act is set out in the application which corresponds with the GSTIN (registration number) issued to M/s.Heaven Engineering. On 06.02.2020, show cause notice was issued, impugned in the Writ Petition, acknowledged by the respondent on the same day. 30. On 20.02.2020, the Commissioner of GST and Central Excise, Chennai Outer Commissionerate /A2 writes to the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Chennai Zonal Unit (CZU) asking for certain particulars in respect of 132 assessee's who had made applications under the SVLDRS Scheme. 31. On 26.02.2020, the DGGI (CZU) writes to A2 saying that the DGGI (CZU) has not registered any case or initiated any investigation in respect of 131 cases barring one case with which we are not concerned. Hence, they gave a clean chit to the respondent. The same verification as aforesaid has also been made with the Superintendent (ECM) and Commissioner of GST and Excise, Audit II Com....
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....r adjudication of the show cause notice in response to which the respondent sought some time, using that time to move the writ petition before the High Court. 38. Undoubtedly, Declarations made under the Scheme are sacrosanct and in a case where a discharge certificate has been issued under Section 129, the settlement is final, except in the situations set out under Section 129(2) of the Scheme. The provision is extracted below in full: '129.(1) Every discharge certificate issued under section 126 with respect to the amount payable under this Scheme shall be conclusive as to the matter and time period stated therein, and- (a) the declarant shall not be liable to pay any further duty, interest, or penalty with respect to the matter and time period covered in the declaration; (b) the declarant shall not be liable to be prosecuted under the indirect tax enactment with respect to the matter and time period covered in the declaration; (c) no matter and time period covered by such declaration shall be reopened in any other proceeding under the indirect tax enactment. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1).- ....
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....nce, with the obliteration of the application and all further events upto and including the discharge certificate dated 23.07.2020, the respondent would also forfeit the payment made under the SVLDRS Scheme on 29.06.2020. 42. Another discrepancy pointed out is in regard to the name of applicant. While the GSTN number has been issued to M/s Heaven Engineering, the application has been filed by the proprietor in his name, Mr.Sathish Sundaram. Much has been made of this, stating that it is a deliberate attempt to mislead and obtain a tactical advantage. We do not completely agree on this front. 43. Certain file notings have selectively been produced for our perusal under compilation dated 11.08.2025. The selection of the pages are random and they are also not in order. Be that as it may, we have assimilated the contents of the pages to understand the sequence of events. On 27/28.02.2020, the following note has been made: 44. This note reveals that the service tax returns filed in Form ST 3 by the respondent have been accessed by the Department. The returns will contain the name of the assessee, Heaven Engineering, and in all probability, also state that the ....
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.... In fact, if they did have knowledge of the fact that the application was compromised, and still went ahead to issue Form 3 and discharge certificate, in Form 4, the matter assumes another ominous dimension altogether. In such circumstances, their submissions would be self - inculpatory. 50. One of us, (Anita Sumanth. J.) has separately heard Writ Appeal No.2388 of 2022 relating to a sexual harassment complaint filed by the Assistant Commissioner who had issued letter dated 27.08.2020, as against the Commissioner who had issued the impugned show cause notice. Prior to making that complaint, the Assistant Commissioner was in receipt of charge memo dated 28.02.2022 calling for her response in respect of the lapse in processing the SVLDRS Declaration of Mr.Sundaram Sathish Kumar, Proprietor of M/s,Heaven Engineering. 51. In her complaint dated 24.05.2022, she levels allegations of sexual harassment against the Commissioner, stating parallelly that there was no error in the discharge of her official functions. We have today, pronounced orders in that matter as well. This is the connect between the two matters and we mention this order solely in the interest of complet....
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....,32,402/- for the period April'2014 to June'2017. However, an investigation was under process against the said taxpayer in Enforcement and Compliance Management Section, Chennai Outer Commissionerate and subsequently SCN No.01/2020 dated 06.02.2020 was issued to the taxpayer involving an amount of Rs. 9,07,53,180/- along with penalty and interest for the period October '2012 to June '2017. 3. Further, it appears that the taxpayer deliberately filed the SVLDRS application under "Voluntary Disclosure" despite being aware of the fact that the case is under "Investigation". Hence, it appears that the taxpayer mis-declared the facts and concealed information deliberately from department to evade the tax. In view of the above, it is requested that necessary action may be initiated at your end to safeguard the revenue. Yours sincerely, ..................... ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER - ECM. Copy to: The Assistant Commissioner of GST & C Ex, Adjudication Section, Chennai Outer Commissionerate for information please. 55. The above letter has been, as we have noted earlier, issued by the officer to herself in another capacity and there is ....
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..... M/s.Heaven Engineering while putting up the file to the designated Committee. It is further stated, in the letter that though it is a fact that SVLDRS-1 declaration has a mention of M/s.Heaven Engineering in the addressed block, it was taken to be a lapse by over sight and not a deliberate act, as it may not practically be possible for an officer at the rank of the Assistant Commissioner to compare each and every detail of the application vis-à-vis reports received; and thus while there appeared to be a negligence on the part of the Officer, but the same cannot be attributed to a deliberate mis-conduct and thus an Administrative Warning to the Officer for being more careful in future has been approved by the Competent Authority". 11. Further, vide letter F.No.DGoV/Conf/MISC/97/2022-O/oPr.DGHQRS- DELHI dated 30.08.2024, the DGoV informed at Para 3 that "The investigation into a complaint regarding wrong acceptance of SVLDRS-3 and consequent issuance of SVLDRS-4 (Discharge Certificate) in respect of Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme (SVLDRS) declaration filed under "Voluntary Disclosure" category by Sh.Sundaram Satish Kumar, Proprietor of M/s.Heaven E....
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....ill hence be decided on the strength of the allegations levelled in that complaint. 76. As far as the application filed by the Appellant alleging perjury on the part of the R4 in making a false averment in her affidavit, we do not agree. The averment related to a technical matter in regard to the IT infrastructure for receipt and processing of SVLDRS Declarations. The statement of R4 only makes a general averment in that regard and does not, as is made out to be, convey any specific information that may be regarded as being a falsehood. This Miscellaneous Petition is hence dismissed. Part C - W.P.No. 1 1457 of 2023 77. In this Writ Petition the Union of India/P1, Internal Complaints Committee/P2 and Chief Commissioner of Customs/P3 challenge order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (in short 'CAT'/'Tribunal') dated 20.02.2023. The appellant in W.A.No.2388 of 2022 is arrayed as R1 and had been the applicant before the Tribunal. The Registrar of the Tribunal is arrayed as R2. In the interests of uniformity, we refer to the parties in the Writ Petition also as per their array in the Writ Appeal, barring R2 in the Writ Petition, who is referred to, where necessary, as Regi....
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.... taking into account the stay granted by the Division Bench on 03.11.2022, the period of 270 days of suspension had not been complete at the time when the impugned order had been passed by the Tribunal on 20.02.2023. 83. The entire sequence of events has been taken note of by the Union in order dated 06.04.2023, wherein, it has taken note of amendment dated 19.10.2022 to Rule 10(7) of the CCA (CCA) Rules, 1965 which stipulates that in a case where no charge sheet has been issued under those Rules, the total period of suspension including an extended period in terms of sub-Rule (6) shall not exceed 270 days. 84. R1 for his part would defend the order of the Tribunal, referring to the following cases. We have heard the learned counsel. In light of the conclusion that we have arrived at, we, however, do not see any need to advert to the following cases cited by R1. Citations of 1st respondent in WP.No.11457 of 2023 1. Union of India and Others v. Shibram Sarkar [2019 SCC OnLine Cal 9105] 2.R.Patchaiappan v. The Principal Secretary Cum Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Endowment Department, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai-34 and others (WP(MD....
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....cumstances, we do not feel that there is any necessity for orders to be passed at this juncture, varying the services of the Appellant. Hence, and as far as the service of the appellant is concerned, let status quo be maintained till the completion of the proceedings referred to the ICC in terms of directions at paragraph 35 above, and subject thereto. 87. The Writ Appeal and Writ Petition stand disposed in terms of this order with directions as above. No costs. C.M.P.No.14442 of 2024 stands dismissed and all other connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed. ============= Document 1 C.NO.IV/06/994/2020-TRC -11- 3 Points for Consideration by the committee Declarant agrees with the tax dues as calculated by the system Yes : Amount to be paid by the declarant Rs 64,32,402/- The file is put up for perusal and orders, please. Rathaus 17-02-2020 (P.Ratan Dup) Super - Voluntary Disclosure - Period - 01/04/2014 - 30/06/2017 - ST 3 returns filed for period Agr 2014. (with NIL tax liability) Mai 2015 No ST3 returns filed for Apr 2015 - ADC/JC'S UNIT 27/3 OUT IN 27/2 37) Jum 17 - As per 5.125(1) (f)(ii), where return has been ....