2004 (7) TMI 546 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
1. Maintainability of appeals against the 21 units without appealing against Shri M.S. Jain.

Analysis:
The case involved appeals filed by the Revenue against an Order-in-Original passed by the Commissioner of Central Excise, Tiruchirapalli in response to five show cause notices issued to various entities. The notices raised demands of duty on 21 manufacturing units based on clubbing of clearances and also proposed penalties. The Commissioner confirmed the duty demand on seven units and imposed penalties, but held that the demand based on clubbing of clearances of all 21 units was not sustainable. The Central Board of Excise and Customs reviewed this part of the order, leading to the filing of appeals by the Commissioner.

The first issue raised was regarding the maintainability of the appeals against the 21 units without appealing against Shri M.S. Jain, who was considered the real manufacturer of the goods by the Board. The argument was that without Jain, there would be no case against the units for clubbing clearances. The Revenue contended that since the appeals were filed against all 21 units, it was sufficient. However, the Tribunal referred to previous cases where appeals against only one unit were deemed not maintainable without including other related units. The Tribunal found that without appealing against Jain, who was central to the clubbing of clearances, the appeals against the units could not be decided on merits. Therefore, the appeals were dismissed as not maintainable due to the absence of an appeal against Shri M.S. Jain.

In conclusion, the Tribunal dismissed the appeals filed by the Revenue against the 21 units as not maintainable due to the failure to appeal against Shri M.S. Jain, who was considered the real manufacturer of the goods and central to the clubbing of clearances issue. The decision was based on the principle that without appealing against Jain, the case against the units could not be decided on its merits.