9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (12) TMI 358X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... CH LLP (FORMERLY KNOWN AS ESBEE INDUSTRIAL COMBINES) , MS. SAVITA CHORDIYA, MS. ABHA CHORDIYA, SOHAN CHORDIYA, SURESH CHORDIYA, VIJAY CHORDIYA, AJAY CHORDIYA, SHANTILAL CHORDIYA AND OJAS CHORDIYA VERSUS THE UNION OF INDIA, THE COMMISSIONER, CENTRAL GST CUSTOMS, PUNE-I, THE ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER, CGST PUNE-I COMMISSIONERATE, THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, CGST PUNE-I COMMISSIONERATE. [ 2024 (7) TMI 1516 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] has passed a detailed judgment holding that the redemption fine is akin to penalty and once the petitioner s application under SVLDR Scheme accepting the payment of excise duty is accepted, the declarant is immune from imposition of any redemption fine and, therefore the benefit of the scheme gets extended to the redemptio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ior to that a search was conducted at the premises of the petitioner and goods worth Rs. 10,06,82,932/- were seized. Second show cause notice was issued on 2 May 2019 seeking to demand Central Excise Duty for the period April 2015 to 2017-18. 4. Meanwhile Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 was introduced by respondent no.1 for settling the disputes which were pending in litigation at various stages. 5. On 11 October 2019, the petitioner filed a declaration in Form SVLDRS-1 for settling the dispute with regard to the show cause notice dated 2 May 2019. The said application was processed and final discharge certificate in Form SVLDRS 4 was issued on 5 December 2019. 6. On 11 October 2019, the petitioner filed another decla ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , the amount payable under the Scheme should be calculated after adding the redemption fine to the excise duty demanded and since the petitioner has not done the same, the rejection of the declaration is justified. He fairly accepts that the said reason is not to be found in the rejection communication or in their reply. 10. We have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the respondents. 11. The ground on which the petitioner has been denied the benefit of the scheme is that redemption fine is not covered by the SVLDR Scheme. 12. With respect to the above issue, the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court, to which one of us was a party (Jitendra Jain, J.) has passed a detailed judgment holding that the redemption fine is akin to penalty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amount of duty as per Scheme then Section 129 provides that the applicant shall not be liable to pay any further duty, interest or penalty with respect to the period covered in the declaration. Although in Section 129 (1) (a) of SVLDR Scheme redemption fine is per se not included, but the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued flyers, wherein it is stated that the benefit under the Scheme would be total waiver of interest, penalty and fine. To the same effect, is the press note dated 22nd August 2019 issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, wherein it is clarified that there would be no other liability of interest, fine or penalty if the dispute is resolved under the SVLDR Scheme. This issue had come up for consid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... High Court is in connection with the definition of the phrase amount in arrears defined by Section 121 (c). In the instant case, the provisions of Section 121 (c) is not applicable since Petitioner No.1-Firm has filed an appeal which has not attained finality and, therefore, none of the clauses of Section 121 (c) of the Scheme applies to Petitioner's case. Therefore, on facts the observations in paragraph 10 of the Gujarat High Court is not applicable to the case before us. 13. The contention of Mr. Mishra relying on the last sentence of the paragraph 10 of the decision in the case Synpol Products Pvt. Ltd. (supra) cannot be accepted since that was not the basis on which the declaration was rejected by the respondents. It is also not st ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Form SVLDRS-1 ARN LD3012190004307 dated 30.12.2029 filed by the petitioner under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 and issue Form SVLDRS-3 or SVLDRS-4 as the case may be. (ii) The respondents to intimate the petitioner of any amount, if any, payable as per the above declaration under the Scheme within a period of four weeks from the date of uploading this order; (iii) The petitioner to make payment within a period of four weeks of the aforesaid communication and inform the respondents about the same. (iv) The respondents to issue a final certificate under Section 127 of the Scheme within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the communication from the petitioner of payment having been made, if any. 15. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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