M/S North Bihar Plywood Industries A Proprietorship Firm And Anr vs. Sanjoy Kumar Agarwal
Facts
The petitioners, M/s. North Bihar Plywood Industries and another, filed a contempt petition against Sanjoy Kumar Agarwal and others. The petitioners argued that the respondents had not complied with a previous order by paying the correct amount of pre-deposit along with interest. The respondents filed a compliance report stating that the pre-deposit had been paid along with interest at the rate of 6% per annum. The petitioners contended that the interest rate should be in the range of 5% to 35% as per Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and that 6% was at the lower end of this spectrum. The Court noted that no specific interest rate was directed by the CESTAT in its order.
Held
The Court held that since the order of CESTAT did not specify a particular rate of interest to be awarded, the payment of pre-deposit along with interest at the rate of 6% per annum by the alleged contemnors was considered sufficient compliance. The Court reasoned that in the absence of a specific directive from the CESTAT regarding the interest rate, the respondents had met the requirements of the order. Therefore, no further action was deemed necessary in the contempt proceeding. The rule of contempt was discharged, and the contempt proceeding was dropped. The personal appearance of the contemnors was dispensed with, and all connected applications were disposed of.
Key Issues
1. Whether the payment of pre-deposit along with interest at the rate of 6% per annum constitutes sufficient compliance with the order of CESTAT, particularly when Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944, provides for an interest rate range of 5% to 35%? Petitioner's Argument: The petitioners argued that the interest paid at 6% per annum was insufficient as it fell at the lower end of the spectrum provided by Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944, implying a higher rate was expected or mandated. Respondents' Argument: The respondents contended that they had complied with the order by paying the pre-deposit along with interest at 6% per annum. They implicitly argued that since no specific rate was mandated by the CESTAT, the rate paid was acceptable.
Sections Cited
Section 11BB
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
2023 S.L. 1 ss W.P.C.R.C. 152 of 2023 in W.P.A. 14787 of 2011 With CAN 4 of 2015 (old No. CAN 3068 of 2015) CAN 5 of 2016 (old No. CAN 12 of 2016) CAN 6 of 2016 (old No. CAN 6569 of 2016) M/s. North Bihar Plywood Industries, a Proprietorship Firm & anr. Vs. Sanjoy Kumar Agarwal & ors. < Mr. Sudeep Sanyal Mr. Snehasis Jana … for the petitioners Mr. Shiv Sankar Banerjee Mr. Abhradip Maity … for the alleged contemnors/ respondents The compliance report filed by the alleged contemnors shows that the pre-deposit had been paid along with interest at the rate of 6% p.a. Counsel on behalf of the petitioners submits that the rate of interest as per Section 11BB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 should be in the range of 5% to 35%. He also submits that the interest paid by the alleged contemnors is 6%, which is at the lower end of the spectrum. In my view, since no specific interest was directed to be awarded by the order of CESTAT, there is sufficient compliance by the alleged contemnors.
2 Accordingly, no further order need to be passed in this contempt proceeding an
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