TMI Blog2006 (10) TMI 80X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... This appeal was filed on September 14, 2006. 2 In the memorandum of appeal, it is stated as under : "That the appellant bank being a public sector undertaking is required to obtain approval from the Committee on Disputes (COD) for pursuing the present appeal. However, the appellant is filing the present appeal for saving limitation and shall be seeking COD clearance within one month from the filing of the present appeal, in terms of the ratio of the judgment of the hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of ONGC v. Collector of Central Excise [2004] 6 SCC 437." 3 In similar matters, previous Benches of this court have been passing standard orders "disposing" of such appeals in the following terms : "The learned counsel for the ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e good offices of empowered agencies of the Government or through arbitration and recourse to litigation should be eliminated." In the same order, a direction was issued to the Government of India to constitute a "High Powered Committee" (HPC) for the purpose and it was mandated that no litigation should be brought before the court or a Tribunal "without the matter having been first examined by the Committee and its clearance obtained for litigation". 6 Thereafter, by an order dated January 7, 1994, in Oil and Natural Gas Commission v. CCE [2004] 6 SCC 437 (hereafter ONGC II), the hon'ble Supreme Court held (page 439) : "Wherever appeals, petitions, etc., are filed without the clearance of the High-Powered Committee so as to save ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be summarized thus : (i) The referring of disputes to the High-Powered Committee is not with a view to effacing the statutory remedies available to the departments of Government or the PSUs; (ii) The idea is to explore the possibility of having them resolved through an in-house ADR process before the disputes reach the Court or Tribunal or are taken up by them for adjudication; (iii) In the event the dispute is unable to be resolved by the High-Powered Committee, it shall grant the clearance for the litigation in the court or Tribunal as the case may be; (iv) Where there is the possibility of the appeal or petition becoming time-barred, it will be open to the party concerned to file such appeal or petition within the time prescribe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... department/public sector undertaking is affected in such a case. The litigation being of a frivolous nature must not be brought to court. To be remembered that in almost all cases one or the other party will not be happy with the decision of the High-Powered Committee. The dissatisfied party will always claim that its rights are affected, when in fact, no right is affected. The Committee is constituted of highly placed officers of the Government, who do not have an interest in the dispute, it is thus expected that their decision will be fair and honest. Even if the department/public sector undertaking finds the decision unpalatable, discipline requires that they abide by it. Otherwise the whole purpose of this exercise will be lost and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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