Board transfers old files of Vizag Commissioner (Appeals) to Hyderabad- by an office order!
The office order issued by the Revenue Department states, “It has been decided with the approval of Competent Authority that the 3 Appellate Commissioner of Central Excise posted in Hyderabad zone be given the additional charge of Commissioner (Appeal), Vizag with immediate effect and until further orders” Cases pertaining to the year up to 2002 are given to one Commissioner (Appeals), for the year 2003 to another and the year 2004 to yet another Commissioner (Appeals). Who is the Competent Authority whose approval the department has taken? This order seems to be patently illegal.
As per Rule 3(2) 0f the Central Excise Rules,
(2) The Board may, by notification, specify the jurisdiction of a Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Commissioner of Central
Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) for the purposes of the Act and the rules made there under.
So it is the Board which has to by notification specify the jurisdiction of the Commissioner (Appeals) and the Board had issued a Notification No. 14/2002 CENT to specify the jurisdiction. This notification also specifies that
Provided that a Chief Commissioner of Central Excise may, within his jurisdiction, specify, the jurisdiction of a Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) and jurisdiction of such Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) shall be limited to the jurisdiction so specified.
So if the Chief Commissioner wants, the jurisdiction of a Commissioner (Appeals) can be changed. But there doesn’t seem to be a provision under the law for appointing Commissioners (Appeals) by office orders without amending the relevant notifications.
The real problem is that cadre review has created several posts of Commissioner (Appeals) and they all want to be posted in cities like Hyderabad and not small places like Vizag! Even as per the Board’s statistics there are more than 400 appeals pending in Vizag with only one Commissioner(Appeals) while there are less than a hundred appeals pending in Hyderabad which has three Commissioners (Appeals). Is there anything called accountability???
Department of Revenue Office Order No. Dated: 31st October, 2005