M/S Richa Constructions vs. Union Of INDIA
Held
The Court held that as per Section 35(F) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, as amended with effect from 06.08.2014, there is no provision for waiver of the mandatory pre-deposit. Consequently, the respondents' authorities were justified in returning the appeal for non-compliance with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement. The Court noted that the petitioner's counsel sought to withdraw the petition with liberty to approach the Appellate Authority under Section 35(F) of the Act by filing an appeal. The Court disposed of the petition with the liberty granted to the petitioner to approach the Appellate Authority in accordance with law, and any delay in filing the appeal would be decided by the Appellate Authority itself. The Court explicitly stated that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.
Facts
The petitioner, M/s Richa Constructions, filed a writ petition challenging an Order-in-Original dated 30.12.2022, passed by respondent No. 3 under Section 73(1) and 73(2) of the Finance Act, 1994, read with Section 174 of the CGST Act, 2017. This order demanded a sum of Rs. 73,26,509/-. The petitioner had filed an appeal against this order but it was returned by the appellate authority on 20.03.2023 due to non-compliance with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement of 7.5% of the duty. The petitioner had also filed an application for waiver of this pre-deposit.
Key Issues
1. Whether the appellate authority was justified in returning the appeal for non-compliance with the mandatory pre-deposit requirement under Section 35(F) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, when an application for waiver of pre-deposit was filed? Petitioner's contention: The petitioner sought to withdraw the petition with liberty to approach the Appellate Authority. The judgment does not record specific arguments from the petitioner regarding the legality of returning the appeal or the waiver application. Revenue's contention: The respondents argued that as per Section 35(F) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, as amended effective from 06.08.2014, there is no provision for waiver of pre-deposit. Therefore, the authorities rightly returned the appeal for non-compliance.
Sections Cited
Section 73(1), Section 73(2), Section 174, Section 35(F)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORDER Per: Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari Heard on the question of admission.
This petition has been filed challenging the Order-in-original dated 30.12.2022 passed by the respondent No.3 under Section 73(1) and 73(2) of the Finance Act, 1994, read with section 174 of the CGST Act, 2017, whereby recovery of demand of Rs.73,26,509/- arising out of the Order-in- Original dated 30.12.2022 has been filed.
As per the provision, it is mandatory to pre-deposit 7.5% of the duty at the time of filing an appeal. The petitioner had already filed an application for waiver of pre-deposit. However, vide the impugned order dated 20.03.2023 (Annexure P/6), the appeal has been returned for non-compliance of mandatory pre-deposit.
On perusal of Section 35(F) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, there is 1
The judgment continues below.
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