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TMI Blog1994 (8) TMI 157X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... p; ______ New Delhi, the 6th August,No. 8(5)/93-Met. I 1993 To The Chairman-cum-Managing Director, National Aluminium Company Limited, IDCO Towers, 8th Floor, Janpath, Bhubaneswar. Sub : Appeal by NALCO against the order of Collector of Central Excise, Bhubaneswar, regarding charging of duties of Twin Hoppers etc. Sir, I am directed to inform you that the Committee of Secretaries in its meeting held on 16th July, 1993 has agreed to permit NALCO to file an appeal before CEGAT against Order No. 42 (8417) CE-11A/91-COLLR-11/92, dated 25-6-1992 of the Collector, Central Excise, Bhubaneswar demanding duty and imposing penalty on NALCO. 2. You may, now file an appeal before CEGAT in the instant case. Yours faithfully, Sd/- (S.K. Condon) Section Officer" 2. A question has arisen whether this letter fro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ibunal the communication at least from the delegate of the Cabinet Secretary giving clearance in the present matter before the appeal of the appellants herein can be proceeded with. Since the same has not been done I would direct the appellants to produce the same before their matter can be further proceeded with. 6. The aforesaid view that I have taken is further fortified by the proceedings on a similar question arising in Appeal No. E/2210/92-C in the case of ONGC v. CCE, Vadodara in which the present learned advocate, Shri D.N. Mehta also happened to be the advocate for ONGC in that case. In the said case, Shri Mehta had produced a letter dated 26-2-1993 from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in Govt. of India. In this connection extracts from Misc. Orders No. 85/93-C, dated 22-4-1993 and 140/93-C, dated 7-7-1993 are reproduced below :- "The Hon'ble President of the Tribunal has directed the Registry to ask the appellants to file the certified copy of the Order passed by the Committee of Secretaries, whereby it has cleared the matter for litigation by way of continuing the present appeal, as referred to in the communication dated 25th February, 1993 addressed to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nication at least from the delegate of the Cabinet Secretary regarding clearance from the Committee of Secretaries so that the matter can be proceeded with further. Dated : 10-2-1994 Sd/- (P.C.Jain) Member (T) 8. [Order per : S.L. Peeran, Member (J)]. - I have gone through the Misc. order prepared by my learned brother Sh. P.C. Jain, Member (T). With all due respect to him, I beg to differ from the findings given by him. The matter came up for hearing on 13-1-1994 on which date the following order was passed :- "Sh. D.N. Mehta, ld. advocate has placed on record a photo copy of the letter No. 8(5)/93-Met. I dated 6-8-1993, from Ministry of Mines permitting the appellants herein to file an application before CEGAT. Thus, there is compliance with the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of ONGC. Matter is, therefore, now to be proceeded with and accordingly, we fix the stay application for hearing on 3rd February, 1994." As can be noticed, the Bench has already held that "there is compliance with the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of ONGC." Therefore, the Bench directed the case to be listed for hearing on 3rd February, 1994 to pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arance is to be given to the concerned Ministry to proceed with the matter. In this case the appellant has been informed by their Ministry that the Committee of Secretaries has granted to their Ministry the clearance to proceed with the litigation. As can be gathered, the minutes of meetings have been recorded by the High Power Committee and the decision arrived at, has been communicated to the appellant through their concerned Ministry. Therefore, Ministry of Mines could not have issued a false letter to the appellant stating that the Committee of Secretaries had cleared their case. If such a doubt existed then it is for the Revenue, who is a party before us to seek a clarification from the Committee of Secretaries, as regards the genuinity of the said letter. The purpose of the conciliation appears to have been served. The Committee of Secretaries has now cleared the appellant's case. Therefore, the letter of Ministry of Mines is sufficient for allowing the appellant to proceed with the case. The requirement of a certified copy of these proceedings is not laid down in any statute. Therefore, it will not be proper for the Tribunal to direct the appellant to produce the minutes of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... required to produce certified copy of the order passed by the Committee of Secretaries or a certified copy of the letter issued by the delegate of the Cabinet Secretary conveying the decision of Committee of Secretaries. or Whether the letter dated 6-8-1993 issued by Ministry of Mines, who were party before the Committee of Secretaries is sufficient compliance, for proceeding with the case. Sd/- (P.C. Jain) Member (T) Sd/- (S.L. Peeran) Member (J) 11. [Order per : G.P. Agarwal, Member (J), Third Member, on Reference]. - The aforesaid question has been referred to me by the Hon'ble President of the Tribunal. 12. When the matter was taken up first on 6-4-1994, Ms. Deepak Kapoor, Deputy Manager (Materials) of the appellants' company, requested for adjournment in writing due to the absence of their counsel, Shri D.N. Mehta, stating that she would make sincere efforts to get the relevant correspondence to prove that the matter was considered by the Committee of Secretaries and clearance was given to pursue the present appeal before the Tribunal. Shri B.K. Singh, learned SDR, also submitted that he would also make an effort at his end to find out the factu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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