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2018 (9) TMI 1715 - Commission - Service TaxApplication before Settlement Commission - maintainability of adjudication order - Section 32E(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - the Commissionerate had held that the adjudication order was passed prior to filing of the settlement application and accordingly, it is not maintainable under Section 32E(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - Mining Services - It is alleged that the applicant was not discharging their Service Tax Liability on the Mining of Mineral, Oil or Gas Services even though they are registered for the above services - whether the settlement application is maintainable under Section 32E(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, read with Section 83 of the Finance Act, 1994, i.e. a valid application for settlement under Section 32E(1)? Held that:- From the contents of Section 32E(1), it is clear that an assessee can make an application for settlement “before adjudication” - The expression “before adjudication” appearing in Section 32E of the Central Excise Act, 1944, has been explained by the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad in M/S. CONCRETE CONSTRUCTIONS VERSUS THE UNION OF INDIA [2017 (5) TMI 98 - ANDHRA PRADESH HIGH COURT], where it was held that the term “before adjudication” as contained in Section 32E(1) refers to the adjudication by the competent authority bearing a date. The assessee has to file the settlement application before that date. In the present case, there was no adjudication pending before the authority as on 23-6-2017. The adjudication upon disposal had been dispatched on 21-6-2017. In other words, on 23-6-2017 i.e. the date on which the settlement application was received, there was no adjudication pending. Hence the question of invoking provisions of Section 32E of the Central Excise Act, 1944, does not arise - In this case, the adjudication order was passed on 21-6-2017 with dated signature of the adjudicating authority, Commissioner, Service Tax, and was despatched on that day i.e. 21-6-2017. Therefore, the application for settlement filed on 23-6-2017 is not maintainable before the Settlement Commission under Section 32E(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. The Commission finds that the case in respect of the present application has been filed after adjudication. Thus, this case does not fall within the meaning of “case” as defined in clause (c) of Section 31 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 - the present application is not maintainable and hence rejected.
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