TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (12) TMI 379
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....1667 dated 26.07.2019 7. C/70537/2021 3370684 dated 24.05.2019 8. C/70538/2021 4137880 dated 19.07.2019 9. C/70539/2021 4142193 dated 19.07.2019 10 C/70540/2021 4142198 dated 19.07.2019 11. C/70541/2021 4241984 dated 26.07.2019 12. C/70542/2021 4241889 dated 26.07.2019 13. C/70543/2021 3370191 dated 24.05.2019 14. C/70544/2021 4242162 dated 26.07.2019 2.0 By the impugned order Commissioner (Appeals) has dismissed all the fourteen appeals filed by the Appellant. Aggrieved Appellant has filed the present appeals. 3.0 Counsel for the Appellant is absent on call. We have heard Shri Santosh Kumar, learned Authorized Representative appearing for the Revenue and have gone through the case records. 4.1 We note that when the matter was called none appeared on behalf of the Appellant nor is there any adjournment request. It is also observed that the appeals have been listed for hearing on 29.04.2024, 12.08.2024, 05.11.2024 and today i.e. 15.10.2025 and on all the occasions Counsel for the Appellant was absent on call. 4.2 Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M/s Ishwar lal Mali Rathod [(2021) 12 SCC 612] cond....
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.... find that the Act enjoins upon the Tribunal to pass order on the appeal confirming, modifying or annulling the decision or order appealed against or may remand the matter. It does not give any power to the Tribunal to dismiss the appeal for default or for want of prosecution in case the appellant is not present when the appeal is taken up for hearing. 12. A similar question came up for consideration before this Court in The Commissioner of Income-Tax, Madras v. S. Chenniappa Mudaliar, Madurai - 1969 (1) SCC 591 wherein this Court considered the provisions of Section 33 of the Income-tax Act, 1922 and Rule 24 of the Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1946 which gave power to the Tribunal to dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution. For ready reference, Section 33(4) of the Income Tax Act, 1922 and Rule 24 of the Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1946 are reproduced below :- Section 33(4) of the Income Tax Act, 1922 "33(4). The Appellate Tribunal may, after giving both parties to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, and shall communicate any such orders to the assessee and to the Commissioner." Rule 24 of the Appel....
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....e a proper decision on questions of fact as well as law which can only be done if the appeal is disposed of on the merits and not dismissed owing to the absence of the appellant. It was laid down as far back as the year 1953 by S.R. Das, J. (as he then was) in CIT, v. Mtt. Ar. S. Ar. Arunachalam Chettiar that the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and of the High Court is conditional on there being an order by the Appellate Tribunal which may be said to be one under Section 33(4) and a question of law arising out of such an order. The Special Bench, in the present case, while examining this aspect quite appositely referred to the observations of Venkatarama Aiyar, J. in CIT v. Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. indicating the necessity of the disposal of the appeal on the merits by the Appellate Tribunal. This is how the learned judge had put the matter in the form of interrogation : "How can it be said that the Tribunal should seek for advice on a question which it was not called upon to consider and in respect of which it had no opportunity of deciding whether the decision of the Court should be sought." Thus looking at the substantive provisions of the Act there is no....
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.... enhanced; (d) he was in agreement with the proposed enhancement of value/duty; (e) he did not want any show cause notice or speaking order; (f) he requested the assessing authority to re-determine the value and reassess the duty in accordance with the value/duty as proposed; Later on, at the time of filing present appeal, the appellant has pleaded that, to avoid the losses of demurrage and detention, he paid the Customs Duty on enhanced price under protest and no speaking orders were issued in those assessments. 5.3 For ready reference, copy of one such acceptance letter is reproduced below:- 5.4 The identical issue of submission of consent/acceptance letter by the importer and non-issuance of speaking order by the assessing officer for enhancement of value was discussed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M/s Century Metal Recycling Pvt. Ltd. vs. UOI [2019 (367) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.)] wherein Hon'ble Apex Court has observed that the authorities had compelled and forced the importer to furnish the acceptance letter thereby waiving of its right to provisional assessment and accepting valuation in terms of Rules 4 to 10....
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....objection or complaint raised by the appellant supported by evidence that the department had anyway compelled and forced him to furnish such letters of acceptance. I find that those letters were submitted by the appellant after receiving queries from the department through EDI System confirming his acceptance of the said re-assessment in writing owing to his own exigency for clearing the import goods. 5.9 In Para 26 of the judgment pronounced in the case of M/s Century Metal Recycling Pvt. Ltd. vs. UOI [2019 (367) E.L.T. 3 (S.C.)], the Hon'ble Supreme Court emphatically clarified that they have not issued any general or omnibus direction that the transaction value declared in the bill of entries should invariably be accepted in all cases and/or that in all cases where imports of aluminium scrap are involved and the matter has to be examined on a case to case basis. I find the facts and circumstances of the instant cases are clearly different owing to the fact that the appellant has submitted his unreserved/absolute acceptance towards the re-assessment of import goods having clear information about the proposed valuation, grounds of rejection of declared value, details ....
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....ssessment of goods referred to in sub-section (1) by the proper officer. Sub-section (4) of Section 17 provides for re-assessment of duty by the proper officer where the self-assessment is not done correctly. Sub-section (5) provides that the proper officer shall pass a speaking order on the reassessment in matters other than those where the importer or exporter, as the case may be, confirms his acceptance of the said re-assessment in writing. 7. From the facts as stated in afore quoted Paragraph 2 and its sub-paragraphs of the counter affidavit, and the own documents of the petitioner filed as Annexure-1 to the counter affidavit, leave no manner of doubt that the petitioner himself has confirmed in writing his acceptance of reassessment. Therefore, there exists no occasion to pass a speaking order on the reassessment. 8. For the reasons aforestated, we do not find any merit in these petitions. Consequently, all the writ petitions are dismissed." 4.8 In case of Century Metal Recycling Pvt. Ltd. [(2024) 23 Centax 30 (Tri.-Del)] Delhi bench has observed as follows: "58. It is, therefore, not possible to accept the submission made by the learned counsel f....
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....2015 (330) E.L.T. 799 (Tri. - Mad) and Commissioner of Customs, New Delhi v. Nath International 2013 (289) E.L.T. 305 (Tri.-Del) on which reliance has been placed by the learned counsel for the respondents merely hold that the department cannot reject the declared value and assess the goods as per the NIDB data. 64. Learned counsel for the respondents also submitted that merely because the enhancement value was arrived at on the basis of letters submitted by the importers would not mean that the statutory right of appeal available to the importers under section 128 of the Customs Act can be denied. 65. It is true that the right of appeal cannot be curtailed and the importers can certainly file appeals, but the issue that arises for consideration is whether after having themselves rejected the value mentioned in the Bills of Entry and after having also mentioned that the redetermined value under rule 9 of the 2007 Valuation Rules was acceptable to them, can the importers raise this issue in the appeals. It is difficult to accept the contention of learned counsel for respondent that despite having accepted the enhanced value in very categorical terms in the letters,....
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....hat Hon'ble Delhi High Court has in the case of Hanuman Prasad & Sons [Order dated 27.11.2024 in CUSAA No. 27 of 2022 ] taken a contrary view. However in view of the decision of jurisdictional High Court on the subject we do not find any merits in placing reliance on the this decision of Hon'ble Delhi High Court. In case of Kashmir Conductors [1997 (96) ELT 257 (T-LB)] a five member bench of tribunal expressed following opinion: "10. The question as to how the Tribunal should proceed in the face of conflicting decisions of High Courts has been considered in M/s. Atma Steels P. Ltd. and others v. Collector of Central Excise, Chandigarh reported in l984 (17) E.L.T. 331 wherein the Larger Bench consisting of five Members held that, in view of its All India jurisdiction and peculiar features, the Tribunal cannot be held bound to the view of any one of the High Courts, but has the judicial freedom, to consider the conflicting views, reflected by different High Courts, and adopt the one considered more appropriate to the facts of a given case before the Tribunal. The Tribunal also indicated that this should be so, irrespective of the fact whether one particular assessee was with....
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.... the provision or Notification as ultra vires, the Tribunal has to follow the same and the assessee is entitled to take the stand that he is entitled to the benefit of the particular provision or Notification since the jurisdictional High Court has not struck it down, even though some other High Court may have done so. In case the conflict of decisions among High Courts does not relate to vires of any provision or Notification, it has been held that the Tribunal has to proceed in accordance with the decision in Atma Steels P. Ltd. in the light of the decision of Supreme Court in the East India Commercial Company case i.e. where the jurisdictional High Court has taken a particular view on interpretation or proposition of law, that view has to be followed in cases within such jurisdiction. If the jurisdictional High Court has not expressed any view in regard to the subject matter and there is conflict of views among other High Courts, then the Tribunal will be free to formulate its own view in the light of Atma Steels P. Ltd. case; however, there is a decision of only one High Court in regard to disputed interpretation or proposition of law, the Tribunal is bound to follow that order....