2015 (10) TMI 1217 - AT - Central Excise

Maintainability of appeal - Section 35B - Monetary limit - Held that - Impugned order was passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 35A which is specified under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 35B. In view of Second proviso to Section 35B (1), this tribunal has discretion to refuse of to admit the appeal in respect of order referred to clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (d) where amount of duty, amount of fine or penalty determined by such order does not exceed ₹ 50,000/- (before 6/8/2014) and ₹ 2 lakhs (on or after 6/8/2014). - Appeal is dismissed only on the ground that amount is below threshold limit of ₹ 50,000/- without going into merit of the case. - Decided against assessee.

Summary

Issues:
- Applicability of Second proviso to Section 35B of Central Excise Act, 1944
- Discretion of the Tribunal to admit or refuse appeal based on the duty amount involved

Analysis:
The judgment delivered by Ramesh Nair, Member (J), of the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT MUMBAI, dealt with the discretion of the Tribunal under the Second proviso to Section 35B of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The Tribunal has the authority to either refuse or admit an appeal based on certain criteria, particularly the amount of duty, fine, or penalty involved in the case. The Second proviso to Section 35B outlines that the Tribunal may refuse to admit an appeal where the duty amount, fine, or penalty does not exceed a specified limit. In this case, the duty amount involved was Rs. 25,544, which fell below the threshold limit of Rs. 50,000 as per the provision before 6/8/2014.

The judgment highlighted that the impugned order was passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 35A, falling within the ambit of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 35B. As per the Second proviso to Section 35B (1), the Tribunal has the discretion to refuse to admit an appeal if the duty amount, fine, or penalty determined by the order does not exceed the prescribed threshold. The discretion extends to cases where the amount involved is below Rs. 50,000 (before 6/8/2014) and Rs. 2 lakhs (on or after 6/8/2014). Therefore, the Tribunal had the authority to dismiss the appeal solely based on the grounds that the duty amount was below the threshold limit of Rs. 50,000, without delving into the merits of the case.

In conclusion, the Tribunal, exercising its discretion as per the Second proviso to Section 35B, refused to admit the appeal due to the duty amount involved being below the specified threshold limit. The judgment emphasized that the decision to dismiss the appeal was solely based on the financial threshold set by the provision, without engaging in a detailed examination of the case's merits. The appeal was consequently dismissed, as pronounced in court on 15/6/15.