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TMI Blog2000 (3) TMI 65X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h as Income Tax Act, Sales Tax Act and numerous other Acts, which give suo moto revisional powers to the Revisonal authorities specified in these enactments, subject to such powers being exercised with a specified period. Section 35EE(4) of the Central Excise and Salt Act has not prescribed any time limit. Counsel submitted that notwithstanding the absence of the specification of time limit, the Court must view that provision as procedural provision, and the time limit prescribed elsewhere in the Act should be read into that provision in order to make the power reasonable and to give finality to the orders made in appeal under Section 35A, after the lapse of a reasonable time. Counsel in this context referred to Section 11-A which prescribe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ers to the Central Government on the ground that the Government being vested with the power to hear revision should be entitled to do so. Counsel pointed out that this direction of the Tribunal, was, at the instance of the assessee, quashed by this Court in November, 1986 and the Central Government itself was a party to that writ petition. It was only after the disposal of the writ petition by this court, that the Central Government had invoked the suo motu revisional power under Section 35EE(4) of the Act. 5.Counsel submitted that the events which preceded the issuance of the show cause notice, would in the special circumstances of this case, warrant the quashing of the show cause notice, even though ordinarily this court would decline t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Till the disposal of the writ petition none of the parties to the petition could have been certain as to what the final outcome would be. 10.The order of the Collector (Appeals) can be said to have come to the notice of the Central Government only when the Tribunal directed the transmission of all the records to the Government. The fact that the Government had not resorted to it's power under Section 35EE(4) immediately on receipt of the records cannot be put against the Government, as in terms of the order of the Tribunal, the records transmitted were required to be treated as revision preferred by the excise authority, under Section 35EE(2). Had that proceeding continued, there would have no need at all to resort to a proceeding under ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at the threshold be regarded as arbitrary and must therefore be interdicted, cannot be accepted, as the interval between the date of the order of the appellate authority, and the date of the show cause notice, after duly taking note of the legal proceedings that took place in between, cannot be regarded as so gross as to render the impugned action arbitrary. In the absence of any specification of time limit in Section 35EE(4) action initiated thereunder cannot be regarded as without jurisdiction. 14.It was also submitted by counsel that the Central Government is the Master of the excise collectorate and in this case, it has only acted to cover up the mistake committed by the Excise authority in failing to prefer the revision petition unde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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