Principaal Commissioner, Central Goods And Services Tax Commissonerate vs. M/S Bajaj Hindusthan LTD.
Original PDF →Facts
The Principal Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax Commissionerate (Appellant) filed an appeal against M/s Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd. (Respondent). The Respondent's counsel submitted that the appeal was not maintainable, citing a Circular/Letter dated 2.11.2023 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC). This circular stipulated monetary limits for filing appeals, with appeals before High Courts not to be filed if the monetary limit was below Rs. 1 Crore. The Respondent argued that since the tax involved in the present appeal was less than Rs. 1 Crore, the department was required to withdraw the appeal.
Held
The Court held that the present appeal is covered by the CBIC Circular dated 2.11.2023. The circular clearly stipulates that appeals before High Courts should not be filed if the monetary limit is below Rs. 1 Crore. The Court found that the Respondent's submission regarding the tax amount being less than Rs. 1 Crore was not disputed by the Appellant. Therefore, based on the circular, the appeal was deemed not maintainable. The Court's reasoning was that the appeal fell within the scope of the directive to reduce government litigation by setting monetary thresholds for appeals. The ratio decidendi is that appeals filed by the revenue before High Courts, where the disputed amount is below the prescribed monetary limit in the relevant CBIC circular, are not maintainable and should be dismissed.
Key Issues
1. Whether the present appeal filed by the Appellant is maintainable before this Court, considering the monetary limits prescribed by the CBIC Circular dated 2.11.2023? 2. Whether the appeal should be dismissed as not maintainable if the disputed tax amount falls below the threshold specified in the aforementioned circular? Contentions of the Respondent: The Respondent contended that the appeal is not maintainable as per Circular/Letter No. 390/Misc./30/2023/JC dated 2.11.2023, which sets a monetary limit of Rs. 1 Crore for filing appeals before High Courts. Since the value of the tax involved in the present appeal is less than Rs. 1 Crore, the appeal filed by the department is required to be withdrawn. Contentions of the Appellant: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the Appellant's counsel regarding the maintainability of the appeal or in response to the circular.
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:90595-DB Court No. - 40 Case :- CENTRAL EXCISE APPEAL DEFECTIVE No. - 105 of 2019 Appellant :- Principaal Commissioner, Central Goods And Services Tax Commissonerate Respondent :- M/S Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd. Counsel for Appellant :- Ramesh Chandra Shukla Counsel for Respondent :- Shubham Agrawal Hon'ble Shekhar B. Saraf,J. Hon'ble Dr. Yogendra Kumar Srivastava,J.
Heard Sri Ramesh Chandra Shukla, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant and Ms. Chhaya Gautam, holding brief of Sri Shubham Agrawal, learned counsel for the respondent.
Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent submits that the present appeal is not maintainable as per Circular/Letter No.390/Misc./30/2023/JC dated 2.11.2023. The said circular is delineated below: "To,
All Pr. Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners/ Pr. Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Prev.)/ GST & CX;
All Pr. Director Generals/ Directors Generals under CBIC;
Chief Commissioner (AR); Commissioners (Legal) CBIC/ Directorate of Legal Affairs 4. webmaster.cbec@icegate.gov.in Subject: Reduction of Government litigation – providing monetary limits for filing appeals by the Department before CESTAT, High Courts and Supreme Court – regarding In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 131BA of the Customs Act, 1962 and in partial modification of earlier instruction issued from F. No. 390/Misc./163/2010-JC dated 17.08.2011, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (hereinafter referred to as the Board) fixes the following monetary limits below which appeal shall not be filed in the CESTAT, High Court and the Supreme Court:
S. No. Appellate Forum Monetary Limit 1 SUPREME COURT Rs. 2 Crore 2 HIGH COURTS Rs. 1 Crore 3 CESTAT Rs. 50 Lakh
Adverse judgements relating to the following should be contested irrespective of the amount involved: a) Where the constitutional validity of the provisions of an Act or Rule is under challenge; b) Where Notification/Instruction/Order or Circular has been held illegal or ultra vires; c) Classification and refund issues which are of legal and/or recurring nature.
Withdrawal process in respect of pending cases in above forums, as per the above revised limits, will follow the current practice that is being followed for the withdrawal of cases from the Supreme Court, High Courts, and CESTAT."
Learned counsel appearing for the respondent further submits that since the value of the tax involved in the present appeal is less than Rs.1 Crore, the present appeal filed by the department is required to be withdrawn by the department.
Upon perusal of the documents and the aforesaid circular, we are of the view that the present appeal is covered by the above mentioned circular.
Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed as not maintainable. Order Date :- 27.5.2025 Imroz (Dr. Y. K. Srivastava, J.) (Shekhar B. Saraf, J.) 2 of 2 MOHAMMAD IMROZ KHAN High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
Reproduced from the public record of the Allahabad High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.