2012 (6) TMI 341 - AT - Central Excise

Plea for waiver of pre-deposit of duty of Rs 21.87 lacs and penalty of equal amount u/s 11AC - dismissal of appeal by Commissioner(Appeals) for non-compliance with the provisions of section 35F - assessee offered to make pre-deposit of Rs.3.00 lakhs - Held that - Applicants are directed to deposit Rs 3 lacs within eight weeks and report compliance on stipulated date directly to Commissioner(Appeals). After waiving the requirement of pre-deposit of balance amount, it is held that since Commissioner(Appeals) has not decided the issues on merits. Therefore the case is remanded to Commissioner(Appeals) for deciding the issue on its merits without insisting for any further pre-deposit.

Summary

The applicant filed for waiver of predeposit of duty and penalty under Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The appeal was dismissed for non-compliance with Section 35F, but the case was not decided on merits. The applicant offered to predeposit Rs.3.00 lakhs, which was accepted. The appeal was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) to decide on merits without further predeposit. Compliance was to be reported directly to the Commissioner (Appeals) by 25.7.2012.