The Principal Commissioner vs. M/S Lafarge INDIA PVT. LTD.
Held
The High Court held that the issue raised in the present appeal was covered by its prior judgment dated 28.08.2017 in Tax Case No.122 of 2017. In that earlier judgment, the High Court had confirmed the CESTAT's order. Consequently, the Court found no substantial question of law arising in this appeal that could be answered in favour of the Revenue. The reasoning was that the present case did not present any new legal aspects or arguments that warranted a different decision from the one already rendered. The ratio decidendi is that if an issue has been conclusively decided by a High Court, subsequent appeals on identical issues without new material or legal arguments are unlikely to succeed. The appeal was dismissed.
Facts
This appeal arises from an order dated 09.03.2017 passed by the CESTAT, New Delhi. The appellant is the Principal Commissioner, Central Tax, Central GST & Central Excise, Raipur. The respondent is M/s Lafarge India Pvt. Ltd. The appeal concerns a matter that the High Court notes is covered by its previous judgment dated 28.08.2017 in Tax Case No.122 of 2017. In that prior judgment, the High Court had confirmed the Tribunal's Final Order on Tax Appeal No.E/2143/2009, which was referenced in the impugned order of the CESTAT. The revenue has filed this appeal before the High Court.
Key Issues
1. Whether a substantial question of law arises in this appeal for the Revenue to be answered in its favour, given that the issue is covered by a previous judgment of this Court. The appellant (Revenue) contended that the appeal should be considered on its merits. The respondent (M/s Lafarge India Pvt. Ltd.) did not present any arguments as the Court found the matter to be covered by precedent. The Court's primary task was to determine if the present appeal presented any novel legal questions or if it was simply a repetition of an already decided matter.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR Tax Case No. 169 of 2017 (Arising out of order dated 09.03.2017 in Final Order No. A/52314-52315/2017-EX[DB] of the learned CESTAT, New Delhi) The Principal Commissioner, Central Tax, Central GST & Central Excise, GST Bhavan, Dhamtari Road, Tikrapara, Raipur (C.G.) ---- Appellant Versus M/s Lafarge India Pvt. Ltd., Sonadih Cement Plant, P.O. Raseda, Via Baloda Bazar, District - Raipur ---- Respondent For Appellant : Shri Vinay Pandey, Advocate Hon'ble Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Justice Sharad Kumar Gupta Order on Board Per Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, Chief Justice 06.11.2017
The issue raised in this appeal stands covered by the judgment dated 28.08.2017 in Tax Case No.122 of 2017. By that order, the Tribunal's Final Order on Tax Appeal No.E/2143/2009 referred to in paragraph 4 of the order impugned in this appeal was confirmed by the High Court. Under such circumstances, we do not find that any substantial question of law arises in this appeal to be answered in favour of the Revenue. The appeal therefore, fails.
In the result, this appeal is dismissed.
(Thot
The judgment continues below.
Read the full judgment
A free account opens 10 full GST judgments a month (one account works on both bharattax.net and this site). Re-reading one you have already opened does not count again.
The summary, the parties, the sections and the citations above are open to everyone and always will be. Only the text of the order and the PDF are metered.
Reproduced from the public record of the Chhattisgarh High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.