M/S Naranja Shahakari Sakkare Karkhane vs. Union Of INDIA And Anr

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Naranja Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane, filed a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court challenging a show cause notice dated 02.02.2010 issued by Respondent-2 (The Commissioner of Central Tax & Service Tax (GST)), an order dated 28.04.2010 passed by Respondent-2, and a final order dated 24.07.2017 passed by the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Bangalore. The respondents were the Union of India and the Commissioner of Central Tax & Service Tax (GST). The petitioner sought to quash these notices and orders.

Held

The Court held that the writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn. The petitioner was granted liberty to challenge the impugned orders (Annexures B, C, and D) by way of an appeal before the appropriate forum under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act. Furthermore, the time spent by the petitioner in prosecuting the writ petition would be excluded for the purpose of limitation under Section 14 of the Limitation Act. The Court did not decide on the merits of the original challenge, as the petition was withdrawn.

Key Issues

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to challenge the impugned orders before the appropriate forum under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act? The petitioner argued that they wished to withdraw the petition to pursue their challenge to the impugned orders (Annexures B, C, and D) by filing an appeal before the appropriate forum under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act. They sought liberty to do so and requested the petition be dismissed as withdrawn. The respondents did not record any specific arguments in the judgment regarding the withdrawal of the petition or the liberty sought.