Reduction of Government Litigation - fixing monetary limits for filing appeals or applications by the Department before GSTAT, High Courts and Supreme Court

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....efore GSTAT, High Courts and Supreme Court - reg. Reference is invited to the National Litigation Policy which was conceived with the aim of optimizing the utilization of judicial resources and expediting the resolution of pending cases. It underscores the importance of prudent litigation practices by establishing thresholds for filing appeals in Revenue matters. Specifically, the Policy mandates that appeals should not be pursued when the amount involved is below a specified monetary limit set by Revenue authorities. Furthermore, it discourages filing appeals in cases where established precedents from Tribunals and High Courts have settled the matter and have not been contested in the Supreme Court. 1.1 Section 120 of the Uttar Prade....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ircumstances under which appeal or application was not filed by the officer of the State tax in pursuance of the orders or instructions or directions issued under sub-section (1)." 2. Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 120 of the UPGST Act read with section 168 of the UPGST Act, the Commissioner, on the recommendations of the GST Council, fixes the following monetary limits below which appeal or application or Special Leave Petition, as the case may be, shall not be filed by the State Tax officers before Goods and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), High Court and Supreme Court under the provisions of UPGST Act, subject to the exclusions mentioned in para 4 below: Appellate Forum Monetary Limit (amount ....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....Monetary limit shall be applied on the disputed amount of tax/interest/penalty/late fee, as the case may be, in respect of which appeal or application is contemplated to be filed in a case. viii. In a composite order which disposes more than one appeal/demand notice, the monetary limits shall be applicable on the total amount of tax/interest/penalty/late fee, as the case may be, and not on the amount involved in individual appeal or demand notice. 4. EXCLUSIONS Monetary limits specified above for filing appeal or application by the department before GSTAT or High Court and for filing Special Leave Petition or appeal before the Supreme Court shall be applicable in all cases, except in the following circumstances where the deci....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ase exceeds the monetary limits fixed above. Filing of appeal in such cases is to be decided on merits of the case. The officers concerned shall keep in mind the overall objective of reducing unnecessary litigation and providing certainty to taxpayers on their tax assessment while taking a decision regarding filing an appeal. 6. Attention is drawn to sub-sections (2), (3) & (4) of section 120 of the UPGST Act, which provide that in cases where it is decided not to file appeal in pursuance of these instructions, such cases shall not have any precedent value. In such cases, the Reviewing Authorities shall specifically record that "even though the decision is not acceptable, appeal is not being filed as the amount involved is less than the ....