NAGREEKA EXPORTS LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Article 226 is directed against common order dated 22-11-2002 passed by the Textile Committee Cess Appellate Tribunal dismissing the appeals filed by the petitioner under section 5-C of the Textile Committee Act, 1963, hereinafter referred to as the "act".

(2.) THE petitioner is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and having their factory at Kolhapur. The petitioner applied to the Government of India, Ministry of Industry for grant of industrial licence for establishing 100% export oriented unit under the provisions of Industrial (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. Pursuant to the said application made by the petitioners for grant of industrial licence for 100% export oriented unit, the petitioner was issued the licence on 16-2-1989 by the Ministry of Industry. The licence, inter alia, mentioned that the finished products authorised for manufacture under the scheme will be exempt from excise and other central levies. The petitioner was served with demand notice for payment of cess by the Textile Committee i. e. respondent No. 4. The petitioner, towards the said demand notices paid a sum of Rs. 7,23,331/ -. The petitioner was thereafter served with a demand notice by the Textile Committee for the period from September 1995 to June 2000. The petitioner preferred appeals before the Tribunal challenging the demand notices issued by the Textile Committee. The Tribunal by the impugned order dismissed all the appeals.

(3.) BEFORE adverting to the submissions advanced by the learned Counsel for the parties, it would be necessary to notice some of the salient provisions of the Act on which the learned Counsel for the parties have based their arguments.