The Chhattisgarh High Court has granted a three-month extension to Nava Raipur Atal Nangar Vikas Pradhikaran, a special development authority, for depositing the mandatory pre-deposit before the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT).
However, the court rejected their plea for a waiver of the deposit and instead allowed an extension.
Nava Raipur Atal Nangar Vikas Pradhikaran (NRANVP) is a statutory body created through Notification dated 8th January 2002 issued by the State Government under Chhattisgarh Nagar Tatha Gram Nivesh Adhiniyam, 1973. It was created as a Special Development Authority with an objective to prepare the development plan for the special areas after approval by the State Govt. and for the purpose of implementation of the plan, to acquire, hold, develop, manage and dispose of lands and other property.
The petitioner claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic left the business of the petitioner in a financial crisis, however, the court held that only a prayer for an extension of time for depositing the mandatory pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is maintainable.
It was further submitted by the petitioner counsel, Yogendra Aldak and Katyayani Vishnupriya, that the petitioner had waived off the delayed interest recoverable on delayed payment of lease rent/lease premium which reduced revenue collection of the petitioner, in light of the Covid pandemic.
Maneesh Sharma, counsel for the respondent-state opposed the submission of learned counsel for the petitioner and submitted that writ petition is not maintainable making prayer only of waiver of mandatory pre-deposit under Section 35F of the Central Excise Act, 1944.
He also pointed out that the notice which is under challenge in the writ petition was a ‘Defect Notice’ issued by the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. The information was forwarded to the petitioner only after scrutiny of appeal.
Allowing the alternate prayer for extension of the time for the mandatory deposit, the Single Bench of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu rejected the plea for waiver of the pre-deposit. The petitioner was granted a further three months’ time from the date of passing of the order to pre-deposit the amount before the Tribunal.
This decision could have significant implications for other taxpayers facing financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, who may now seek similar extensions to meet their mandatory pre-deposit requirements before the CESTAT.
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