Jurisprudentiol– Friday's cases

By Vijay Kumar

Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.CESTAT/Service Tax

For any appeal/application before the CESTAT, a minimum fee of Rs. 1000/- has to be paid; No appeal maintainable against a clarificatory letter issued by an AC; Courts are not supposed to decide academic issues unless necessary for deciding the appeal. CESTAT

IT is manifest that appeal lies only where there is a demand towards service tax and/or interest, or penalty has been imposed; even if the appeal were maintainable, the appellant is required to pay the minimum fee prescribed by the statute, that is, one thousand rupees.

There being no determination of rights - final or adverse to the appellant - the letter being merely 'clarificatory' in nature, issued at the behest of the appellant themselves, there was no cause of action for the appellant to file any appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals), and after the said appeal was dismissed, to file another appeal to the Tribunal.

Central Excise

Whether for lapses and carelessness of officials issuing Show Cause Notices, cause of Public Revenue should irreparably suffer? Tribunal remands case of demand of additional duty of excise to establish marketability

“WE have given serious thought to the question as to whether for the lapses and carelessness of the officials issuing the impugned Show Cause Notices, the cause of the Public Revenue should irreparably suffer with no hope of recovery of such huge amounts of Revenue from the salaries of the defaulting officials. Fortunately, as far as the present Show Cause Notices are concerned, the provisions of the basic law i.e. the Central Excise Act, 1944 as well as the Central Excise Rules, 1944 which are applicable by reference to levy and collection of the Additional Excise Duty under the 1957 Act have been invoked. Moreover, both the enactments the 1944 Act and the 1957 Act operate in the same field viz. excise duty on manufactured goods.”

Customs

Abetment of smuggling – RTA officials who issued certificates for vintage cars, not liable for penalty under Customs Act – No question of law on findings of fact by Tribunal: Gujarat High Court

THE Customs is the know-all department; they don't believe certificates issued by other Government Departments and even foreign governments. This is a strange case in which the Commissioner of Customs imposed penalties of Rs 7 Lakhs, 9 Lakhs and 12 Lakhs respectively on three junior clerical level employees of the State Transport Department on the charge of abetting smuggling. Their offence- they made wrong entries in the RC books to facilitate export of vintage cars.

See our columns on Friday for the judgements