Draconian Circular - Departmental Officers don High Court's Role
IT is not lawyers alone that benefitted from CBEC's New Year Circular on arrears recovery. Immediately after the circular was issued, the Departmental officers started sending letter missiles to the assessees threatening attachment and sale if the demands of duty were not paid up immediately. Worried assessees are running around Central Excise officers and those of consultants. The department does not really have the machinery to attach and sell the property of every assessee. So there is an element of discretion --- and the consequential benefits. It seems that this circular is a bundle of opportunity to make money for some Central Excise Officers. Already bribes are being demanded for not giving the attachment notices and not enforcing them and many such officers are grateful to the Board for the benevolent circular. The plea is that you have to spend a couple of lakhs to pursue the matter in the High Court - instead of paying the lawyers, pay us - we will give you a stay that the High Court gives.
Not a paisa to the State but there are several beneficiaries!