The Hindu Business Line : `Excise dispute settlement panel working well'

THE Customs and Central Excise Settlement Commission has been able to dispose of nearly 50 per cent of the applications received so far for settlement.

The panel was introduced in the Finance Act of 1998 to speedily settle long-pending customs and excise duty disputes.

Participating in an interactive session on the commission's role and system of working, Mr N. Rajagopalan, Chairman, said out of the 1,900 applications received so far from all over the country, involving a duty amount of Rs 460 crore, as many as 900 applications have been taken care of, and ``hopefully with the setting up of an additional Bench in Kolkata (which has just started functioning), the backlog should be sufficiently reduced.''

The Principal Bench is located in Delhi, with additional Benches in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Assuring that all assessees are assured of a fair deal, Mr Rajagopalan said a basic requirement for parties when appearing before the Commission was a ``true and full disclosure of duty liability.'' Pointing out that the Commission's experience so far has been encouraging, he said effective December 1, all applications from the eastern region, including the North East, can now be filed before the Kolkata Bench, which is headed by a vice-chairman.

Stating that the order of the body was fully binding on both assessees and the department, he said cases are generally decided between 6 months and one year. The commission provides immunity from prosecution and penalties. He, however, admitted that aggrieved parties at times challenge the verdict and file a writ petition in the High Courts and then on to the Supreme Court.

Clarifying, he said the courts do not address the quantum of duty leviable, but only go into the procedural aspects and whether principles of natural justice have been violated (as in the case of a perverse decision) at any point. He said during the last four years of the commission's working, only some 15-20 writs may have been filed in High Courts.

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