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2019 (3) TMI 1275 - AT - Central ExciseRecovery of confirmed dues and penalties - section 35 F of Central Excise Act, 1944, read with section 35 C (2 A) of Central Excise Act, 1944 and with rule 41 of Customs Excise Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1982 - Held that:- Had the officials concerned applied their mind to the judgement as a whole, instead of selectively culling out certain expressions therein, the present problem and potential chaos could well have been avoided. It is abundantly clear from the narration of the background facts, the observations therein and the catena of decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court which have been discussed in detail that the controversy in re Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency Pvt Ltd pertained to delay arising from challenge to the framing of charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It is again abundantly clear that the Hon’ble Supreme Court was concerned with the impeding of continuance of trial in the original courts owing to stay granted in applications for intervention by appellate authorities in exercise of revisionary jurisdiction under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or under the inherent powers vested with the constitutional courts under Article 227 of the Constitution. The ambit of the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court is restricted to one aspect of appeals and, that too, pertaining to trial courts. This Tribunal is not a trial court; it is an authority established to dispose off appeals at the first or second level, as the case may be. The stay ordered by Tribunal is on the recovery of amounts not covered by the pre-deposit determined then; the proceedings before the lower authorities had concluded and the jurisdiction of the Tribunal had been triggered by the filing of the appeals. After examining the amendments effected to section 35C of Central Excise Act, 1944, the power vested in the Tribunal to decide upon continuation of stay of operation of impugned order, in circumstances of the appellant being helpless in the matter of disposal of appeal, is clearly delineated there. Therefore, the proper course of action for the officials was to approach the Tribunal for vacation of the stay - In the absence of such application, the stay order will continue to operate till the appeals herein are disposed off.
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