Casual Nature in which Court Proceedings are treated by Customs - Madras High Court
JUSTICE Sudhakar of the Madras High Court, in a recent order, expressed his anguish at the casual nature that proceedings of the High Court are treated by the Commissioner of Customs. Even after 2 years and 11 months, the Department has not filed a counter and nobody appears for the Department. With too many Departmental Counsels now being posted, nobody knows who represents the Department. In fact one Counsel told the Court that no officer of the Department is responding to their calls.
The Judge observed, "The Central Board of Customs and Excise should take note of the situation and issue suitable direction to the respective Chief Commissioners to ensure proper representation in Court proceedings ."
Justice Sudhakar is a very soft-spoken and highly courteous judge and that must be the reason why his comments are very mild and suggestive- and he has a lot of experience in practicing indirect tax laws as an advocate, but the fact remains that the attitude of Customs has irked even such a judge.
Once in a while the Tribunal and the High Courts do send copies of their orders to the Chairman, CBEC to rectify the lapses and improve the system. But does anybody read these orders in the Board and do anything in this regard?
Why does the Department treat court cases with this kind of contempt?