2009 (1) TMI 733 - AT - Service Tax

Summary

The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT KOLKATA, presided over by Dr. Chittaranjan Satapathy, considered a case involving four appellants seeking an extension of an earlier granted unconditional stay. The Division Bench had granted the initial stay, but it was set to expire after six months. The appellants filed four miscellaneous applications for an extension, as the Tribunal was unable to schedule the cases for a final hearing. Unfortunately, no Division Bench was able to function on the day of the hearing due to the absence of a Judicial Member. The appellants were ready to argue for final disposal, and the circumstances that led to the original stay had not changed. The Department did not file any application for modification or revocation of the stay order. Dr. Gautam Ray, representing the Department, mentioned that a Cross Objection had been filed by the respondent Commissioner, but no application for modification or revocation of the stay had been submitted. He argued that the Single Member Bench could not extend the stay granted bys the Division Bench, and requested time to support this claim. The Department was granted time for this argument, and the hearing of the extension applications was adjourned to 3rd February, 2009, unless the registry could list it before a regular Division Bench in the meantime. It was directed that no coercive action for recovery of the amounts for which the stay was granted earlier should be taken during the pendency of the extension applications. The order was dictated and pronounced in open court.