MOTI POLYMERS PVT LTD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the petition is taken up for final disposal today.

(2.) This petition was originally filed as Special Civil Application Stamp No. 1099 of 2000. However, there were certain office objections which were not removed. It appears that the office was not able to trace out the papers and ultimately by order dated 15-4-2004 this Court had permitted the petitioner to reconstruct the record of the said Special Civil Application. That is how the record of the petition has been reconstructed and the petition is now numbered as Special Civil Application No. 4975 of 2004 although it was earlier filed in the year 2000.

(3.) The petition challenges the order dated 23-2-1999 (Annexure "E") rejecting the petitioner's declaration dated 30-12-1998 filed under Section 89 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1998 in respect of the Kar Vivad Samadhan Scheme. As per the said Scheme, the KVSS could be availed in a case where show cause notice/demand notice in respect of excise duty/customs duty was issued prior to 31-3-1998, but adjudication was pending on the date of making the declaration (for which the last date was 31-12-1998 extended to 31-1-1999) OR the adjudication was made after 31-3-1998 and an appeal or revision was pending on the date of declaration. There is no dispute about the eligibility of the petitioner in so far as the aforesaid parameters are concerned. However, the Assistant Collector rejected the declaration dated 30-12-1998 only on the ground that the controversy raised by the petitioner was already concluded by a decision of the Apex Court and since the decisions of the Apex Court are binding under Article 141 of the Constitution, no dispute remained or survived and, therefore, the declaration under the KVSS was not tenable.