9911796707
|
Home
Issues:
1. Appeal against order for pre-deposit of duty drawback amount. 2. Dismissal of appeal by Tribunal for non-compliance with pre-deposit order. 3. Request for de-freezing account and appropriation of deposited amount. Analysis: 1. The petitioner appealed against an order requiring pre-deposit of &8377; 21,55,788 for duty drawback claimed illegally. The Tribunal directed a pre-deposit of &8377; 12,00,000, which the petitioner partially complied with by depositing &8377; 2,34,500. The remaining amount of &8377; 9,65,637 was in the petitioner's account at Punjab National Bank, which the Tribunal did not allow for appropriation. The petitioner sought a direction to adjust this amount towards the pre-deposit. The High Court acknowledged the total liability and directed the de-freezing of the petitioner's account for compliance with the Tribunal's order. 2. The Tribunal dismissed the appeal due to non-compliance with the pre-deposit order, leading to the petitioner challenging the correctness of this decision. The High Court noted that the Tribunal did not examine the possibility of pre-deposit from the frozen account and found no reason why the amount in the account should not be available for compliance. The Court directed the de-freezing of the account and allowed the petitioner to transfer the amount of &8377; 9,65,637 to the Commissioner of Customs for sufficient compliance with the pre-deposit direction. 3. The Court, after hearing both parties, issued a direction to de-freeze the petitioner's account and allowed the transfer of the remaining amount towards the pre-deposit. The order dismissing the appeal for non-compliance was set aside, and the appeal was restored for further proceedings on merits. This judgment ensures fairness by enabling the petitioner to comply with the pre-deposit order using the funds available in their account, ultimately allowing the appeal to be heard and decided on its merits.
|
