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2017 (8) TMI 1112 - HC - Central ExciseMODVAT/CENVAT credit - manufacture of paper and paper products falling under Chapter No. 48 of the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 - rejection of application by Settlement Commission - rejection solely on the ground that the petitioner has not made a full and true disclosure of their duty liability - Held that: - Section 32E of the Central Excise Act, 1944 deals with applications for settlement of cases. Sub-section (1) of Section 32E states that, an assessee may, in respect of a case, relating to him make an application, before adjudication, to the Settlement Comission to have the case settled in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed and containing the full and true disclosure of his duty liability, which has not been disclosed before the Central Excise Officer having jurisdiction - the petitioner had rightly approached the Commission on issuance of show cause notice. Whether there has been a full and true disclosure of the duty liability by the petitioner in the application filed before the Commission? - Held that: - the facts of the case are quite peculiar and distinct and the term, full and true disclosure has to be interpreted considering the facts of each case and if such an interpretation is given, in my view, there has been a full and true disclosure by the petitioner, though the manner in which it has been presented may not be appropriate, the reason being that the show cause notice itself was restricted to the period from November, 1997 to June, 2001. It is only after the receipt of the show cause notice that the petitioner had the cause of action to appear before the Commission. The show cause notice admits that the petitioner had paid Central Excise duty to an extent of ₹ 28,00,923/- and that covers the period anterior to the period mentioned in the show cause notice and that is from June 1996 onwards. The show cause notice covered only the period from November 1997 to June, 2001. It is not a case where, though the petitioner failed to make a full and true disclosure of their duty liability, but appeared to have raised a technical plea, which could not have been the reason to throw out the application filed by the petitioner, which is a Public Sector Company wholly owned by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The matter is remitted back to the Settlement Commission for consideration of the petitioner s application on merits and in accordance - petition allowed by way of remand.
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