Forum for Appeal against CESTAT Orders : A Case of Unabated Confusion and Need for Reform

This article traverses the provisions relating to the appellate remedies against orders passed by the Appellate Tribunal under the principle indirect-tax legislations in India i.e. the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Finance Act, 1994 which deal with levy and collection of customs duties, central excise duty and service tax respectively. These enactments are unique in as much as they provide for a bifurcation of the appellate jurisdictions of the Supreme Court and the High Court in respect of orders passed by the CESTAT whereas other parliamentary enactments vest the appellate jurisdiction against orders passed by Appellate Tribunals exclusively either with the Supreme Court or to the High Courts to the exclusion of each other. The author has made an attempt to sketch the legal position emanating from the practical application of these provisions, as interpreted by the Supreme Court and the High Courts in appeals filed before them. The impetus for this article is the recent decision of the Delhi High Court in Ernst & Young, rendered in the context of service tax, wherein the misunderstanding of the Department regarding the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court has met with an emphatic disapproval. In this background the author has built up the case for an urgent parliamentary intervention to revive the gloomy scenario from degenerating further. The suggestion, based on various factors, is amend the relevant provisions thereby conferring the exclusive jurisdiction upon the High Courts to hear appeals from orders passed by the Appellate Tribunal under the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Finance Act, 1994