Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. M/S Masters INDIA Sidco Industrial Complex Bari Brahmana Jammu J And K
Facts
The Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Jammu, filed an appeal before the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh against an order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). This order directed the refund of Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess to the assessee, M/s Masters India Sidco Industrial Complex, Bari Brahmana, Jammu. The CESTAT's decision was based on the Supreme Court's ruling in 'M/s SRD Nutrients Pvt. Ltd. V. Commissioner of Central Excise, Guwahati'. A batch of similar appeals filed by the Commissioner, including the lead case CEA No. 10/2022, had been dismissed by a Coordinate Bench of the High Court on May 23, 2022. The present appeal was also filed under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1994, challenging a similar order on identical grounds.
Held
The High Court dismissed the appeal, maintaining parity with its previous judgment dated May 23, 2022, which had dismissed a batch of similar appeals. The Court noted that the instant appeal challenged an order on almost identical grounds as those dealt with in the earlier judgment. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed on the same terms and conditions as laid down in the prior decision. Any interim directions that were subsisting at the time of the order were vacated. The ratio decidendi is that appeals raising identical issues and grounds, which have already been decided by a coordinate bench, should be dismissed on the principle of parity to ensure consistency and avoid conflicting judgments.
Key Issues
1. Whether the CESTAT erred in directing the refund of Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess to the assessee in light of the Supreme Court's decision in M/s SRD Nutrients Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Guwahati? The Appellant (Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise, Jammu) contended that the present appeal raises similar grounds and challenges a similar order as a batch of appeals previously dismissed by a Coordinate Bench of this Court on May 23, 2022. The Appellant relied on the principle of parity to argue for the dismissal of the current appeal. The Respondent (M/s Masters India Sidco Industrial Complex) did not appear before the Court, and therefore, no arguments were recorded on their behalf.
Sections Cited
Section 35G
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORDER
2022 Ali Mohammad Magrey-CJ (Oral):
At the very outset, what requires to be stated is that a batch of appeals were filed before this Court by the Commissioner, Central, GST and Central Excise (Jammu and Kashmir), Jammu under Section 35 G of the Central Excise Act, 1994 (fort short „the Act‟) against the orders of different dates passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chandigarh (for short „the CESTAT‟), thereby setting aside the orders passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) and the Adjudicating Authority and directing for the refund of the Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess to the assessee in view of the decision rendered by the Apex Court in case tit
The judgment continues below.
Read the full judgment
A free account opens 10 full GST judgments a month (one account works on both bharattax.net and this site). Re-reading one you have already opened does not count again.
The summary, the parties, the sections and the citations above are open to everyone and always will be. Only the text of the order and the PDF are metered.
Reproduced from the public record of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.