2024 (2) TMI 1313 - SCH - Service Tax

Maintainability of petition - availability of alternative remedy - petitioners are willing to avail of the said remedy - HELD THAT - These special leave petitions disposed off reserving liberty to the petitioners herein to file the statutory appeal within a period of one month from today. If such an appeal is filed within the aforesaid time frame, the Tribunal shall not raise the issue of limitation in filing the said appeal.

Summary

Issues involved: Liberty granted by High Court for alternative appellate remedy, delay in filing statutory appeal before CESTAT.

The Supreme Court, in the present case, heard submissions from the counsel representing the petitioner(s) regarding the liberty granted by the High Court to avail the alternative appellate remedy. The learned senior counsel for the petitioners expressed willingness to avail of the said remedy, citing several judgments/orders of the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in favor of the assessee for the same transaction. The counsel highlighted that the impugned order by the adjudicating Authority was passed on a specific date, and the petitioners intend to file the appellate statutory remedy within a specified timeframe to avoid any delay objections from CESTAT in case of an appeal. The submission made by the learned senior counsel was duly recorded by the Court.

As a result of the submissions made by the counsel and considering the circumstances of the case, the Supreme Court disposed of the special leave petitions. The Court granted liberty to the petitioners to file the statutory appeal within one month from the date of the order. It was explicitly mentioned that if the petitioners file an appeal within the stipulated timeframe, CESTAT should not raise the issue of limitation concerning the filing of the appeal. Additionally, any pending application was deemed disposed of by the Court as part of this order.