2003 (11) TMI 183 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
1. Signature authority of appeals filed by Revenue
2. Abatement claimed by respondents
3. Maintainability of Revenue's appeals post-assessees' appeals

Analysis:

1. The judgment deals with the issue of the signature authority of appeals filed by the Revenue against the Orders of the Commissioner of Central Excise, Patna. The appeals were initially signed by the Assistant Commissioner instead of the Commissioner, as required. Subsequently, the Commissioner filed the appeals afresh, replacing the original appeals with proper signatures. The Tribunal, noting that the original appeals were filed within time, condoned the delays in filing and accepted the replaced appeals for further proceedings.

2. The Revenue was aggrieved by a portion of the impugned Order where the Commissioner allowed the abatement claimed by the respondents while confirming demands of duties on other issues. The respondents had previously filed appeals against the orders confirming demands and imposing penalties. These appeals were disposed of by the Tribunal, setting aside the impugned orders and remanding the matters to the Commissioner for fresh decisions. The Tribunal observed that the Revenue's appeals, filed after the assessees' appeals were disposed of, were not maintainable based on a Larger Bench decision, leading to the dismissal of the Revenue's appeals.

3. Referring to the Larger Bench decision in the case of C.C.Ex., New Delhi v. LML Ltd., the Tribunal held that when assessees' appeals challenging parts of impugned orders are decided by the Tribunal, subsequent review orders passed by the Board render Revenue's appeals non-maintainable. As the Revenue's orders were passed after the assessees' appeals were disposed of by the Tribunal in the present cases, the Tribunal found the Revenue's appeals not maintainable and dismissed them in line with the precedent. Consequently, all appeals, miscellaneous applications, and cross-objections were disposed of accordingly as per the Tribunal's decision.