2015 (2) TMI 32

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..... questions of law:          "1. Whether on the facts and circumstances of the case, the second respondent Tribunal, viz., Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, South Zonal Bench, Chennai is right in holding that the appellant has not made out a prima facie case in his favour against the demand and therefore directing the appellant to pre-deposit a sum of Rs. 45 lakhs for the entertainment of the appeal.           2. Is the second respondent Tribunal is in error in not looking into the financial hardships pleaded and also to the fact that the appellant had paid a sum of Rs. 27.79 lakhs pending investigation, which has been appropriated in the .....

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..... Rs. 1,57,93,792/- under the provisions of the Customs Act together with penalty under Section 114A of the Customs Act equivalent to the duty along with interest. 3. The Adjudicating Authority observed in the order that the appellant had paid a sum of Rs. 27,79,394/- during the course of investigation and the said amount should be appropriated and adjusted towards differential duty and other adjudication liabilities. 4. Aggrieved by the above said order of adjudication, the assessee preferred an appeal before the Tribunal along with an application for waiver of pre-deposit. 5. The Tribunal, after taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, found that the e-mails of the appellant to foreign supplier recovered from th .....

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..... tal demand in many cases.  The grant of waiver of pre-deposit depends on the facts and circumstances of each case and the discretion is vested with the Tribunal to grant the same.  Even assuming that the appellant had paid a sum of Rs. 27.00 lakhs, the same comes to only 17% of the total demand, which is not a substantial amount. Even the pre-deposit ordered by the Tribunal and the amount paid by the appellant, which comes to approximately Rs. 72,00,000/-, do not cover 50% of the total amount demanded. Since the appellant, at the threshold, did not show any documentary evidence showing prima facie case in their favour, much less financial hardship, we are not inclined to interfere with the order of the Tribunal. More over, the app .....

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