Summons only as a last resort – clarifies CBEC
TIOL had submitted to the Parliamentary Committee that the power to summon people have been misused by the officers and the recent trend especially in Service Tax is to summon top officers of the organisation at the drop of a hat, just to get information that a clerk can provide. The idea is to intimidate people into surrender. Now Board clarifies that Ministry vide letter F.No.201/07/2006-CX6 has directed DGCEI to issue instructions to the field formations, reiterating the significance and use of summons only as a last resort when it is absolutely required. This has also been informed to DDT by Lok Satta. CBEC seems to have taken both CVC and Lok Satta for a ride. We hope to bring more details in the near future.