Principal Commissioner CGST And Central Excise vs. M B Foods PVT LTD.

Held

The Court allowed the appellant's application (I.A. No. 11045/2024) for withdrawal of the appeal. The Court held that the appeal was liable to be withdrawn as the valuation was less than ₹2 crore, which fell below the enhanced monetary limit for filing appeals against CESTAT orders. The Court explicitly stated that the question of law raised in the appeal would remain open to be raised at a subsequent stage. The operative direction was to dismiss the appeal as withdrawn.

Facts

The Principal Commissioner CGST and Central Excise (appellant) filed Central Excise Appeal No. 8 of 2023 against M B Foods Pvt Ltd. (respondent). The appeal was filed before the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore. During the pendency of the appeal, the Revenue Department, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, enhanced the monetary limit for filing appeals against CESTAT orders to the High Court and Supreme Court. The valuation in the present appeal was less than ₹2 crore, which consequently made the appeal liable to be withdrawn under the revised monetary limits. The appellant filed an application (I.A. No. 11045/2024) seeking withdrawal of the appeal.

Key Issues

1. Whether the appeal is maintainable before this Court in light of the enhanced monetary limit for filing appeals against CESTAT orders, as per the order dated 06.08.2024 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs under Section 35R of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with Section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994? Petitioner's Contention: The appellant argued that the valuation in the present appeal is less than ₹2 crore, and therefore, the appeal is no longer maintainable before the High Court due to the revised monetary limits for filing appeals. The appellant relied on the order dated 06.08.2024 enhancing these limits. Revenue's Contention: No specific arguments were recorded for the revenue on the maintainability of the appeal, as the revenue itself sought withdrawal.