In Commissioner Of Central Excise & Service Tax v. Aimr Jewels Pvt. Ltd, the division bench of the Allahabad High Court held that a Single Member of CESTAT is not competent to decide appeal where value of the goods confiscated without right of redemption exceeds Rs.50 lakhs.
In the instant case, the department challenged the order of the Tribunal by contending that the impugned order passed by the CESTAT is without jurisdiction since it has been passed by a judicial member only and not by the Division Bench as envisaged under Section 129C of the Act.
The department contended that as per section 129C, if the value of the goods confiscated without right of redemption exceeds Rs.50 lakhs, a single member of the CESTAT is not competent to decide the appeal in the present case.
Perusing the order of the adjudicating authority, from which the appeal was preferred before the CESTAT, the bench found that the value of the goods confiscated was Rs.3,36,00,000/- and the confiscation was without any option to redeem the same under Section 125 of the Act.
Allowing the departmental appeal, the division bench comprising of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Vinod Kumar Misra said, in view of the valuation of the goods confiscated without right to redeem, found that the appeal was not cognizable by a single member of the CESTAT and hence, is not sustainable.
Read the full text of the Order below.
