Principal Commissioner vs. Sarabhai Chemicals

Held

The Court held that permission to withdraw the appeal, as prayed for by the appellant, is granted. The reasoning is based on the appellant's submission that they were instructed to withdraw the appeal due to the disputed duty amount of Rs. 60,53,674/- being less than the monetary limit of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- stipulated by the Board's instruction dated 22.08.2019. The appeal was disposed of as withdrawn. The Court also noted that if there was any error in the computation of the tax effect or if the Board's instruction was not applicable for any reason, the appellant would have the liberty to seek revival of the appeal.

Facts

The Principal Commissioner, CGST & CX, Vadodara-I (appellant) filed a tax appeal before the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad against Sarabhai Chemicals (opponent). The appeal concerned a disputed duty amount of Rs. 60,53,674/-. The appellant's counsel placed on record a communication from the Assistant Commissioner (Legal) instructing withdrawal of the appeal. This instruction was based on a Board's instruction dated 22.08.2019, which stipulated a monetary limit of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- for pursuing appeals, and the disputed amount was below this limit.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appellant is permitted to withdraw the captioned tax appeal, considering the monetary limit stipulated by the Board's instruction dated 22.08.2019? The appellant argued that it sought permission to withdraw the appeal as per the instructions received from the Assistant Commissioner (Legal), CGST & CX, HQ, Vadodara-I. This instruction was based on the Board's communication F.No.390/Misc/116/2017-JC dated 22.08.2019, which set a monetary limit of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- for appeals, and the disputed duty of Rs. 60,53,674/- fell below this threshold. The revenue did not present any arguments against the withdrawal.