Commissioner Of Central GST And Central Excise J And K Jammu vs. M/S Sun Pharma Laboratories LTD Sidco Igc Samba J And K

Held

The Court held that the present appeal is identical to several other Excise Appeals previously decided by the Court on 23rd May 2022, with CEA No. 10 of 2020 being the leading case. Since no new grounds were presented by the appellant, the Court found that the matter was squarely covered by the prior decision. The reasoning was based on the principle of judicial precedent, where similar matters, without new arguments or facts, should be decided consistently with previous rulings. The Court dismissed the appeal on the same terms and conditions as laid down in the judgment and order dated 23rd May 2022 passed in CEA No. 10/2020 and connected appeals. No specific issues were expressly left undecided.

Facts

The Commissioner of Central GST and Central Excise J and K Jammu (appellant) filed an appeal against M/S Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd. (respondent). The appeal was stated to be similar and identical to several other Excise Appeals previously considered and decided by the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh vide a judgment and order dated 23rd May 2022, where CEA No. 10 of 2020 was the leading case. The appellant's counsel was heard, and the Court found no new grounds were available to the appellant. Consequently, the matter was considered squarely covered by the prior decision.

Key Issues

1. Whether the present appeal is covered by the previous judgment and order of this Court dated 23rd May 2022 in CEA No. 10 of 2020 and connected appeals? The appellant contended that the appeal raises no new grounds and is identical to previous matters decided by the Court. The appellant relied on the principle that if a matter is squarely covered by a previous decision, it need not be reconsidered. The respondent did not present any arguments as recorded in the judgment. The revenue's argument was implicitly that the appeal should be dismissed on the same terms as the prior judgment.