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2014 (8) TMI 253 - HC - Central ExciseValidity of settlement Commission's order - Clandestine removal of goods - unaccounted purchases of raw materials, unaccounted production of finished goods - Evasion of duty - Matter remanded back by Commission - Held that:- Under sub-section (1) of section 32-E, the applicant is required to make a full and true disclosure of his duty liability and merely because the Settlement Commission has, after considering the explanation offered by the applicant, allowed the application to be proceeded with under sub-section (1) of section 32-F, will not mean that the Settlement Commission has accepted that the applicant has made full and true disclosure of his duty liability because that is not the stage to make such an inquiry. It is after examination of the records and the report of the Commissioner of Central Excise that the Settlement Commission, after giving an opportunity to the applicant and to the Commissioner of Central Excise to be heard, is required to pass an order as it thinks fit under sub-section (5) on the matters covered by the application. It cannot, therefore, be asserted that once the application filed under sub-section (1) of section 32-E has been allowed to be proceeded with under sub-section (3) of section 32-F, the Settlement Commission has necessarily to make a settlement. If that was so, then in that event power would not have been conferred on the Settlement Commission under sub-section (8) of section 32-F to reject the application. Since a complaint had been filed under section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in which charges had been framed on 10 December 2013, the officers, with a mala fide intention made attempts to ensure that the case was not settled. The officers have not been impleaded by name as party respondents and even otherwise the allegations are very vague and have not been substantiated. The Settlement Commission has given good and cogent reasons for sending the case back to the adjudicating authority. The Settlement Commission noticed that the applicants had not accepted a substantial part of the duty liability and had in fact contested the evidence collected by the Revenue as being fabricated and tampered with. It also noticed that the Revenue had given reasons to substantiate its position regarding the investigation as well as the quantification of duty liability. In such a situation, the Settlement Commission thought it appropriate, particularly when the applicants had not made a full and true disclosure and that complex questions of fact, which required appreciation of evidence, were required to be settled through adjudication. Unless it is established that the discretion has been exercised in an arbitrary or perverse manner or that it is not based on relevant considerations or has taken into consideration irrelevant matters, Courts will not interfere in the exercise of such discretion by the Settlement Commission under Article 226 of the Constitution. There is, therefore, no illegality in the impugned order which may call for any interference by this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution - Decided against assessee.
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