2018 (12) TMI 359 - AT - Central Excise

Rectification of Mistake - case of appellant is that this Tribunal has committed a mistake holding that the appellant has paid the amount in question during the course of investigation under protest and also that the adjudicating authority has not taken any paying to adjudicate the show cause notice dated 01.07.2016. Held that - In this case the show cause notice was issued on 01.07.2016 whereas the amount has been paid by the appellant on 09.12.2015 and CRCL report was communicated to the appellant on 28.01.2016 and the statement of the appellant has also recorded on 06.01.2016 which is after payment made by the appellant, therefore, the amount paid by the appellant, during the course of investigation as statement of the directed was recorded after the amount deposited by the appellant. On that ground, there is no mistake apparent on record, therefore the application for rectification of Mistake does not have any merits on this ground. We also observed that on 30.08.2018, the adjudicating authority was directed to refund the amount paid by the appellant, during the course of investigation within three weeks. Instead of compliance of order of this Tribunal, the adjudicating authority filed this application for rectification of mistake to gain time. ROM application has no merit and is dismissed.

Summary

Issues: Rectification of mistake in the order passed by the Tribunal, Payment made by the appellant during the course of investigation, Adjudication of show cause notice dated 01.07.2016

In this judgment by the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT CHANDIGARH, the Revenue filed an application for rectification of mistake in the Tribunal's order dated 30.08.2018. The grounds for rectification included the Tribunal's alleged mistake in holding that the appellant paid the amount in question during the investigation under protest, and the adjudicating authority not taking any action to adjudicate the show cause notice issued on 01.07.2016. The Tribunal heard the arguments and examined the record to assess the situation.

Upon reviewing the case details, it was found that the show cause notice was issued on 01.07.2016, while the appellant had made the payment on 09.12.2015. The CRCL report was communicated to the appellant on 28.01.2016, and the appellant's statement was recorded on 06.01.2016, after the payment was made. Therefore, the amount was paid by the appellant before the statement was recorded during the investigation. The Tribunal concluded that there was no apparent mistake on record regarding the payment timeline, and thus, the rectification application lacked merit on this ground.

Additionally, the adjudicating authority had not taken any steps to adjudicate the show cause notice or the amount paid by the appellant even after the Tribunal's order on 30.08.2018 directing the refund of the amount within three weeks. Instead of complying with the Tribunal's order, the adjudicating authority filed the rectification application, which the Tribunal viewed as an attempt to delay the process. The Tribunal expressed strong objection to the filing of the rectification application without valid merit and dismissed it accordingly. The judgment was dictated and pronounced in the open court, emphasizing the finality of the decision.