The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai bench has held that the Cancellation and Revocation of Central Excise Registration are Infructuous, Meaningless and Irrelevant in the light of the introduction of the GST Regime in the country.
The assessee, M/s. Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. was engaged in the import of coal and was registered as a dealer under Central Excise but did not possess a godown. The coal was directly transported to buyers from the port.
The revenue contended that as the assessee did not have a godown sufficient to store the bulk quantity of imported coal thereby it had not followed the procedures stipulated in provisions of Central Excise Rules, 2002.
Consequently, a Show cause notice was issued alleging that the assessee does not have a godown in Chennai and therefore cannot be registered as a dealer.
The original authority passed an order for revocation of the Central Excise registration of the assessee.
The assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax (Appeals).
The appeal was allowed by the Commissioner (Appeals) setting aside the order passed by the adjudicating authority.
Aggrieved by the order of the Commissioner (Appeals), the Revenue, Commissioner of GST & Central Excise filed an appeal before the CESTAT, Chennai.
The revenue, represented by N. Sathya Narayanan reiterated the same grounds of appeal.
The assessee, represented by S. Gokernesan contended that the order of the Commissioner (Appeals) shall be retained.
The bench found that the appeal has become infructuous. The bench also noted that the country has transitioned to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Regime, rendering the revenue’s appeal pointless and devoid of merit.
The two-member bench consisting of Ms. Sulekha Beevi C.S. (Judicial Member) and Mr. M. Ajit Kumar (Technical Member) concluded that as the GST regime supersedes the Central Excise regime if the department appeal is to be allowed so as to sustain the cancellation of Central Excise registration under the previous system, it would be purposeless and meaningless. The bench finds no merit in the appeal.
In the result, the appeal filed by the revenue was dismissed.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
