Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, the Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs ( CBIC ), has urged the stakeholders and authorities to resolve long standing legacy adjudication cases.
These cases, highlighted in the Budget document for the fiscal year 2022-23, reveal a significant financial backlog, with over ₹29,000 crore stalled in cases pending for durations ranging from one year to over a decade.
These pending cases, categorized as non-disputable, signify instances where demands were raised but remained unrealized due to various obstacles, such as the absence of assets for recovery or insufficient assets, as well as challenges related to tracing assesses. Simultaneously, a staggering ₹1.73 lakh crore worth of cases are mired in disputes pending for more than ten years, indicating a complex and protracted legal landscape.
Chairman Agarwal, in a communication addressing this critical issue, underscored the present opportunity to address and resolve these longstanding challenges promptly. The majority of these cases are linked to service tax and central excise duty, with customs duty also featuring in this realm.
It is noteworthy that the need for integration of service tax and central excise duty ( excluding specific categories like petrol, diesel, crude, aviation turbine fuel, and compressed natural gas ) into the Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) framework since July 1, 2017, has further contextualized the urgency of resolving these legacy matters.
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“The Board has consistently emphasized the importance of clearing these legacy matters,” stated Agarwal, urging proactive measures from the various zones to tackle the pending cases efficiently.
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