2005 (7) TMI 118 - HC - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
Challenging common order of Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal regarding pre-deposit for appeals against excise duty payment.

Analysis:
The petitions sought to challenge a common order by the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal related to pre-deposit conditions for hearing appeals against excise duty payment. The Department initially recovered a significant sum from job workers as excise duty for manufacturing medicinal products. Subsequently, show-cause notices were issued to the petitioners to pay excise duty as manufacturers. The petitioners disputed this classification and the liability for excise duty. The Tribunal's order required the petitioners to make a pre-deposit of 25% of the total excise duty amount, which was contested by the petitioners. Upon examination, the Court found a prima facie arguable point in favor of the petitioners and directed them to deposit 10% of the excise duty instead of the 25% demanded. The Court considered the amount already recovered from the job workers by the Department and modified the order, directing the petitioners to collectively deposit Rs. 50,00,000 towards excise duty within four weeks.

The Court split the deposit amount proportionately among the petitioners. The judgment emphasized that the contentions of both parties were kept open. The Tribunal was instructed to expedite the disposal of the appeals by the end of October 2005. Finally, all petitions were disposed of with no order as to costs.