Relief to Fox International Channels Case: CESTAT Upholds dismissal of Appeal as Review Order is Time-Barred [Read Order]
The tribunal dismissed the department's appeal, thereby upholding the decision to grant the refund to Fox International Channels.
FOX - international - channel - Taxscan
FOX - international - channel - Taxscan
Recently, the Chandigarh bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) upheld the dismissal of a Revenue Department appeal against Fox International Channel, affirming that a review order was time-barred as the limitation period began when the order was marked to the reviewing authority, not when the newly formed GST Commissionerate received it.
The case involved M/s Fox International Channels, the respondent assessee which had paid excess service tax amounting to Rs. 61,91,667 for the period October 2015 to March 2016. After filing for a refund, the adjudicating authority sanctioned the payment via an Order-in-Original dated March 31, 2017.
The department was subsequently directed to file an appeal against this order, and a review order was passed on October 9, 2017. However, the Commissioner (Appeals) rejected the department's appeal, holding the review order to be barred by limitation, prompting the Revenue to approach the CESTAT.
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The core issue before the CESTAT was determining the starting point of the three-month limitation period for filing a review order under Section 84 of the Act. The Revenue Department argued that the period should begin from July 10, 2017, when the order was physically received in the new GST Gurugram Commissionerate. They contended that the previous Service Tax Commissionerate had ceased to exist on June 22, 2017, and therefore, the date of receipt in the new commissionerate should be the starting point.
Counsel for Fox International Channels countered, stating that the review order was rightfully dismissed as time-barred. She argued that the Order-in-Original was dispatched on March 31, 2017, and marked to the Superintendent (Review) on April 10, 2017. Relying on the Supreme Court decision in GTC Industries Ltd. v. Collector as applied in CCE, Pune v. Pearl Engineering Polymers Ltd., she submitted that this marking constitutes sufficient 'communication' of the order, thereby starting the limitation period from April 10, 2017.
The CESTAT bench, comprising Mr. S. S. Garg (Judicial Member) and Mr. P. Anjani Kumar (Technical Member), agreed with the respondent. The tribunal noted that the order was passed on March 31, 2017, and marked to the reviewing authority on April 10, 2017. Following the legal precedent, the limitation period for the review order commenced on April 10, 2017, and expired on July 10, 2017. Since the review order was issued on October 9, 2017, it was beyond the prescribed three-month period under Section 84 of the Act.
The CESTAT concluded that there was no infirmity in the Commissioner (Appeals)' order. The tribunal dismissed the department's appeal, thereby upholding the decision to grant the refund to Fox International Channels.
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