2021 (8) TMI 323 - AT - Customs

Maintainability of appeal - monetary limit involved in the appeal - refund claim - HELD THAT - The amount of alleged refund sanctioned which is now appealed, in all the above appeals, is less than ₹ 5,00,000/-, to which the Notification of the Central Board of Excise Customs (C.B.E.C.) in F. No. 390/Misc./163/2010-JC dated 17.12.2015 applies whereby, as a policy decision to reduce the volume of litigation, the C.B.E.C. had revised the monetary limits for filing appeals by the Department before the CESTAT, which is at ₹ 10,00,000/-. Though a subsequent Notification in F.No. 390/Misc./116/2017-JC dated 04.04.2018 was issued deleting sub-clause (c) of paragraph 3, but however, the monetary limit has not been varied. The Revenue appeals are not maintainable and are liable to be dismissed - Appeal dismissed.

Summary

Issues involved: Dismissal of appeals by the First Appellate Authority as "time barred" due to the date discrepancies in the Orders-in-Original.

Analysis:
The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT Chennai, in a judgment delivered by Hon'ble Mr. P. Dinesha, Member (Judicial), addressed a common issue involving the dismissal of appeals by the Department due to being "time barred." The appeals were clubbed together for convenience and disposed of by a common order. The Department was aggrieved by the dismissal of its appeals by the First Appellate Authority on the grounds of being "time barred." The Tribunal heard arguments from the Learned Departmental Representative for the Revenue and the respective Advocates representing the respondents.

For clarity, the Tribunal reviewed the dates of the Orders-in-Original, date of dispatch, and date of communication/receipt in the Review Cell, presenting them in a tabular format for easy reference. After examining the documents and arguments presented during the hearing, the Tribunal noted that the alleged refund sanctioned in all the appeals was less than ?5,00,000. This amount fell under the monetary limits set by the Notification of the Central Board of Excise & Customs (C.B.E.C.) dated 17.12.2015, which revised the limits for filing appeals before the CESTAT to ?10,00,000.

The Tribunal highlighted that although a subsequent Notification in 2018 deleted a specific clause, the monetary limit remained unchanged. Consequently, the Tribunal opined that the Revenue appeals were not maintainable under the current monetary limits and were liable to be dismissed. Therefore, the appeals were dismissed by the Tribunal. The order was pronounced in the open court on 12.07.2021.