The Delhi High Court has restored the appeal before the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), as the condition of the deposit was complied with. The court allowed the writ petition and stated that subject to the writ petitioner depositing costs of INR 2 lakhs within two weeks.
The petitioner, Ankit Madan has challenged the order passed by the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). The CESTAT dismissed its application for restoration of the statutory appeal along with costs of INR 2 lakhs.
The writ petitioner had on an earlier occasion approached the Court by way of writ petitions which was disposed of by the Court with a direction to the writ petitioner to comply with the directions of pre-deposit within a period of 12 weeks.
When the matter was brought up before the CESTAT, the writ petitioner had gone unrepresented, and consequently, the CESTAT could not be informed of the deposit having been made. The CESTAT proceeded to dismiss the appeal itself, bearing in mind the peremptory directions of the writ petition.
The application for restoration was filed before the CESTAT. The application proceeded on the assertion that the directions as framed by the High Court had been duly complied with. The CESTAT was not informed of the delay that was caused in complying with the conditions of the pre-deposit as they were framed.
The petitioner contended that it was an inaccurate stand taken in the application for restoration, which appears to have weighed upon the CESTAT to dismiss the same along with a cost of INR 2 lakhs.
A division bench of Justice Yashwant Varma and Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav set aside the impugned order in so far as it proceeded to reject the application for restoration.
The court allowed the writ petition and stated that subject to the writ petitioner depositing costs of INR 2 lakhs within two weeks, the appeal shall stand restored on the Board of CESTAT to be considered on merits and by law.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
