The Commissioner Of Customs, Patna vs. Shri Babloo Singh @ Jitendra Kumar Singh

Held

The Court allowed the appellant's application to withdraw the appeal. The reasoning was based on the applicability of the Government of India's Circular dated 08.08.2019, which stipulates a policy of not filing appeals before the High Court when the monetary stake is less than one crore rupees. The Court found this policy to be squarely applicable to the present case. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed as withdrawn. However, the Court expressly left the question of law open, meaning the legal principle involved was not decided and could be raised in future proceedings. The interlocutory application was also disposed of.

Facts

The Commissioner of Customs, Patna, filed Miscellaneous Appeal No. 319 of 2018 before the Patna High Court against an order concerning Shri Babloo Singh @ Jitendra Kumar Singh. The appellant, represented by learned counsel, filed an interlocutory application (I.A.No. 01 of 2024) seeking permission to withdraw the appeal. This request was based on a Circular dated 08.08.2019 issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, which outlines a litigation policy discouraging appeals before the High Court when the monetary stake is less than one crore rupees. The appellant contended that this policy was squarely applicable to the present case.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appeal should be permitted to be withdrawn by the appellant in light of the Government of India's litigation policy dated 08.08.2019, which advises against filing appeals before the High Court where the monetary stake is below one crore rupees, as argued by the appellant? 2. What is the consequence of withdrawing the appeal under the aforementioned circumstances? The appellant argued for withdrawal based on the Government's litigation policy, citing the low monetary stake. The respondent's arguments are not recorded in the judgment.