The Delhi High Court has held that the appeals are filed within 90-day period from date of pronouncement of judgment by Supreme Court in ITC Case.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Dharmesh Sharma has observed that the number of days between the decision of Supreme Court in ITC case i.e., 18th September, 2019 and date of filing the appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals) i.e., 17th December, 2019 is exactly 90 days.
The Appellant/assessee has challenged the Final Order passed by the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). In order to appreciate the contentions raised, the background in these appeals deserves to be captured.
The Appellant is a Company, incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, engaged in trading of electronic products such as mobile phones etc,. As part of its business activities, the Appellant had imported mobile handsets/cellular phones for which various bills of entry were filed during the years 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The Appellant’s case is that it was deprived from claiming the tax benefit in respect of the above said imports in terms of Notification No. 12/2012-CE dated 17 March, 2012, due to restrictions imposed by Circular No. 37/2001-Cus. dated 18th June 2001.
The Appellant had sought refund of excess custom duty paid with respect to thirty-one bills of entry. The Appellant, for this purpose, had filed two refund applications before the Deputy Commissioner (Refunds) on 25th September, 2015 categorizing the thirty-one bills of entry into two batches consisting of 14 and 17 bills, respectively.
The refund applications were rejected by the Deputy Commissioner (Refunds) on the ground that the Appellant has not provided re-assessed bills of entry in respect of said refund claims.
The rationale in the order of the CESTAT is that, though, the appeals were filed within 90 days of the passing of the judgment by the Supreme Court in ITC (supra), the time which has elapsed between the bills of entry and the application for refund by the Appellant would not be condonable and hence the appeals were dismissed by CESTAT. The Appellant has preferred these appeals against the order of CESTAT.
The court held that the appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals) are held to be within the limitation period. The Commissioner (Appeals) shall adjudicate the appeals on merits and not on the ground of limitation.
Case Details
Case Title: M/S Vishal Video And Appliances Pvt. Ltd Versus Commissioner Of Customs, ACC (Import)
Case No.: CUSAA 2/2025, CM APPL.992/2025
Date: 24.01.2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Yogendra Aldak
Counsel For Respondent: Aditya Singla
