GUJARAT STEEL INDUSTRIES Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition has been preferred challenging the order dated 20th July, 2004 passed by the Settlement Commission of Customs and Central Excise, Additional Bench, Mumbai (hereinafter referred to as "the Commission" ). The petitioners approached Settlement Commission with an application for settlement of certain disputes. After hearing the petitioners and the representatives of Revenue, vide final order No. 12/cex/2002 dated 23. 5. 2002, the Commission decided the settlement application moved by the petitioners. The petitioners filed a Miscellaneous Application dated 1. 1. 2004, submitting that two factual errors amounting to error apparent on record were committed by the Commission while passing the final order. According to the petitioners, the said two errors were, [1] not extending the benefit of deemed credit on the basis of decision in the case of M/s Digambar Foundry, reported in 2000 [118] ELT 85 (T-LB) of the Larger Bench of the Tribunal, and [2] immunity from prosecution was not granted under the impression that prosecution had already been launched. Vide the impugned order, the Miscellaneous Application has been rejected by the Commission.

(2.) ON behalf of the petitioners, the impugned order was assailed on the ground that the Commission had erred in law in holding that the Commission had no powers to review its own order once the final order was made. In this connection, reference was made to the observations made in paragraph No. 7 of the impugned order.

(3.) IN relation to the finding as to non-availability of deemed credit, the submission was that the Commission had not correctly appreciated the Larger Bench decision of the Tribunal, because as per the said decision itself, deemed credit was not available in a case where exemption limit of Rs. 75 lakhs had been crossed, but the same was not the case of the petitioners.