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TMI Blog2021 (3) TMI 136X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the petitioner dated 25.12.2019 and grant the relief(s) under the aforesaid scheme. Additional prayer made by the petitioner is for quashing of show cause cum demand notice dated 24.12.2020 issued by Joint Commissioner, CGST & CX, Belapur Commissionerate. 3. Petitioner is a private limited company engaged in the business of supplying unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled manpower for security services, management services etc. Being a service provider, it was registered as such under Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994. 4. Central Government introduced the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 (briefly "the scheme" hereinafter) vide the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 for settlement of legacy disputes pertaining to service tax and central excise providing for substantial reliefs to the declarants subject to eligibility. 5. In terms of the scheme, petitioner submitted declaration dated 25.12.2019 under the category of 'voluntary disclosure' covering the period from 01.04.2016 to 31.03.2017 declaring service tax dues for the said period at Rs. 39,26,235.00 6. However, vide email dated 21.01.2020, the aforesaid declaration of the petitioner was rejected on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thereof to contend that petitioner was not eligible to file declaration under the category of 'voluntary disclosure'. It is further stated that under the scheme, there is no requirement or provision for giving opportunity of personal hearing to a declarant before rejection. 11.1. Record of the petitioner for the last five years i.e from 2015-16 may be examined by the respondents under section 73(1) of the Finance Act, 1994. This period includes the financial year 2016-17 in respect of which petitioner had filed the declaration. The proceedings which are underway may incorporate the period 2016-17 thus rendering the petitioner ineligible. 12. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that impugned rejection of the declaration of the petitioner is in violation of the principles of natural justice as no opportunity of hearing was granted to the petitioner before such rejection. That apart, no reasons have been assigned except the bald statement about ineligibility of the petitioner. An unreasoned order being in violation of the principles of natural justice is certainly arbitrary and unreasonable and is therefore liable to be appropriately interfered with by this Court. Lea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eclarant would not be entitled to any refund. 16.3. Section 125 deals with eligibility to make declaration under the scheme. As per sub-section (1) of section 125, all persons shall be eligible to make a declaration under the scheme except those who are specifically excluded under clauses (a) to (h). From the wordings of sub-section (1) of section 125, it is evident that under the scheme, eligibility is the norm and ineligibility is the exception. In so far voluntary disclosure is concerned, ineligibility is dealt with in clause (f)(i) which says that a person after being subjected to any enquiry or investigation or audit would be ineligible to make a voluntary disclosure. 16.4. Section 126 deals with verification of declaration by designated committee. Proviso to sub-section (1) clarifies that no such verification shall be made in a case where voluntary disclosure of an amount of duty has been made by the declarant. 16.5. Section 129 provides that every discharge certificate issued under section 126 with respect to the amount payable under the scheme shall be conclusive as to the matter and time period stated therein. Section 129(2)(c) says that notwithstanding anything contain ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t deal of discretion is vested on the designated committee, who has to decide eligibility on a case to case basis. Needless to say, when a discretion is conferred upon an authority to decide an issue which has civil consequences upon the party concerned, such discretion has to be exercised in a just, fair and reasonable manner complying with the principles of natural justice. Thus, while deciding eligibility, the designated committee is required to consider all relevant materials and also hear the concerned declarant. 20. Having held so, let us deal with the contention of the petitioner that before a declaration is rejected, an opportunity of hearing should be granted to the declarant. Though we do not find any such express provision in the scheme laying down requirement of hearing before rejection of the declaration, we find from section 127 more particularly under sub-sections (3) and (4) thereof that if the designated committee upon verification, determines the amount payable by the declarant to be higher than what is declared by the declarant, then an opportunity of hearing should be granted to a declarant. This coupled with what we have discussed in paragraph 19 above, makes ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a person is visited by adverse civil consequences, principles of natural justice like notice and hearing would have to be complied with. Non-compliance to the principles of natural justice would impeach the decision making process rendering the decision invalid in law. 52. We have one more reason to take such a view. As has rightly been declared by the Hon'ble Finance Minister and what is clearly deducible from the statement of object and reasons, the scheme is a one time measure for liquidation of past disputes of central excise and service tax as well as to ensure disclosure of unpaid taxes by a person eligible to make a declaration. The basic thrust of the scheme is to unload the baggage of pending litigations centering around service tax and excise duty. Therefore the focus is to unload this baggage of pre-GST regime and allow business to move ahead. We are thus in complete agreement with the views expressed by the Delhi High Court in Vaishali Sharma Vs. Union of India, WP(C) No. 4763 of 2020 decided on 05.08.2020 that a liberal interpretation has to be given to the scheme as its intent is to unload the baggage relating to legacy disputes under central excise and service ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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