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K.R. Srivats

New Delhi, Feb. 20 In an attempt to expedite the disposal of pending Central excise cases, the Finance Ministry has brought parity in the adjudication powers of Joint Commissioners with that of Additional Commissioners in all the Central excise commissionerates of the country.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has now enhanced the monetary limit of adjudication of cases by Joint Commissioners to that of Additional Commissioners. Currently, additional commissioners could adjudicate cases involving duty of up to Rs 50 lakhs.

With the latest move, Joint commissioners can now adjudicate cases involving duty of upto Rs 50 lakhs. Hitherto, they could adjudicate cases involving duty level of up to Rs 20 lakhs only.

“There is shortage of Additional Commissioners. This was leading to delay in the adjudication of cases falling under the monetary limit prescribed for Additional Commissioners. So the monetary limit of adjudication has been hiked for Joint Commissioners to expedite the disposal of the pending cases”, a CBEC official said.

As on end-December 2007, the number of Central excise cases pending adjudication stood at 14,493 involving an amount of Rs 8,652.12 crore.

Meanwhile, the CBEC has now asked the concerned jurisdictional commissioners to redistribute the pending cases among the joint commissioners and submit a report to the Board by March 15, certifying that all the work regarding re-allocation of cases has been completed.

“This move of the CBEC will certainly reduce the number of pending excise duty related cases. But the larger question is the quality of demands that are being raised”, Mr Vivek Mishra, partner and leader- indirect taxes, Ernst & Young India, told Business Line.

Already, parity exists in adjudication powers of joint commissioners and additional commissioners in respect of customs cases.

More Stories on : Excise and Customs | Courts/Legal Issues

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