Over One Lakh Cases pending with an amount of Rs. 1.4 lakh Crores in CBEC Litigation

By Vijay Kumar

AS on 31st July 2013 over one lakh ten thousand cases involving an amount of Rs. 1.4 Crores are pending with the Commissioner (Appeals), CESTAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court. Out of this 1.4 lakh Crores, hardly Rs. 50,000 crores will be realised - after decades. Maybe the FM should try a new amnesty scheme to put an end to all this meaningless litigation. Maybe all these cases can be closed with a condition that the assessees pay an amount of ten percent of the duty involved. Clear the clogs in the litigation mechanism and let us start afresh. Even closing all these cases without even collecting that ten per cent is an idea worth pursuing.

The pendency figures are as given below extracted from the ‘SOP on Litigation in appellate forums' released by CBEC's Directorate of Legal Affairs.