Commissioner, Central GST And Cx vs. Dalmia Refractories LTD.

Held

The Court held that the appeal was not pressed by the appellant. This decision was made in light of the Government of India's Instruction dated 22nd August 2019, which sets a monetary limit for filing appeals before the High Court and is applicable retrospectively. The Court noted that the tax effect in this appeal was admitted to be below this limit. Consequently, the appeal was disposed of as not pressed. The Court also provided a liberty to the appellant to seek revival of the appeal if there was any error in the computation of the tax effect or if the instruction was otherwise not applicable.

Facts

This is a Tax Appeal filed by the Commissioner, Central GST and CX (the appellant) against Dalmia Refractories Ltd. (the respondent). The appeal concerns a tax effect that is admitted by both parties to be less than Rs. 1,00,00,000/-. The appeal was filed before the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad. The operative part of the judgment indicates that the appellant's counsel did not press the appeal.

Key Issues

The primary issue before the Court was whether the appeal should be entertained given the tax effect involved. The appellant, represented by Mr. Nirzar S. Desai, did not press the appeal. This was based on Instruction F.No.390/Misc./116/2017/JC dated 22nd August 2019, issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. This instruction stipulates that no appeal with a tax effect not exceeding Rs. 1,00,00,000/- shall be filed before the High Court and is retrospectively applicable to pending appeals. The respondent was represented by Mr. Vivek N. Mapara. No specific arguments were recorded for the respondent, other than their presence.