TMI Blog2022 (1) TMI 1350X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d Committee, this Court is of the considered view that the Designated Committee should be directed to consider the claim of the appellant as to the entitlement of the appellant to the benefits of the said scheme. In the case of M/s. Sobha Limited vs. Union of India Anr. [ 2020 (10) TMI 208 - PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT ] the Hon'ble Division Bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh had considered an identical issue and the order of rejection of the declaration filed in Form SVLDRS-1 was set aside and direction was issued to the designated authority to decide the application afresh. Identical direction was issued in the case of Vaishali Sharma vs. UOI Anr. reported in [ 2020 (8) TMI 81 - DELHI HIGH COURT ]. In the said decision the Court went a step further to observe that an opportunity of hearing must have been given to the assessee before rejecting the declaration. It is evidently clear that Central Board is alive of the situations faced by the assessee. Hence there would be no difficulty in extending relief to the assessee. In any event the correction to be made is trivial in nature, hence, technicalities should not come in the way of the assessee bei ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the learned writ court observed that such stand could not have been taken and the assessee was entitled to be furnished with details of the appropriate authority before whom they can redress their grievances and issued a direction to disclose the names of the appropriate authority within a time frame. Aggrieved by such direction, the revenue is before us by way of this appeal in FMA 918/2021. After the direction was issued in the writ petition, the revenue had sent the communication to the assessee dated 13.09.2020 stating that under the Scheme and the Rules framed thereunder, there is no provision of appeal against the decision of the Designated Committee and as per the terms of the scheme, it is final and conclusive, however, if the assessee has any grievance, he may approach the legal forum. This communication prompted the respondent to file an application in the disposed of writ petition, WPA 5235/2020, questioning the correctness of the communication dated13.09.2020. The said application was disposed of by order 19.10.2020 holding that no direction can be issued in the application filed in a disposed of writ petition. However, the court observed that the assessee is at libert ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... from other details pertaining to the basic excise duty, cess etc. In terms of the notification issued by the Central Government dated 21.08.2019, declaration under Section 125 shall be made electronically in form SVLDRS-1 by the declarant on or before 31.12.2019. Admittedly, the application filed by the assessee before us was well within time. By further notification dated 31.12.2019, the time limit was extended by substituting figures, letters and words with the date 15.01.2020. The assessee was electronically intimated on 05.02.2020 that the declaration submitted by them is rejected. The reason being the order- in-original number has been wrongly given and instead of the said number orderin- appeal number has been given. To be noted that the intimation of such rejection was much after 15.01.2020, the last date on which a declarant can file an application under the scheme. Thus, the attempt made by the appellant revenue to foreclose the case of the respondent assessee by referring to cut off date as 15.01.2020 has to necessarily fail. This is so because the said date is the last cut off date for a declarant to file an application and it does not render the designated committee fu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he order of rejection dated 5.2.2020. Thus, the issue would be whether the designated committee as constituted in terms of Section 125 of the scheme was justified in not affording an opportunity to the assessee to rectify such minor technical error. Section 127 deals with rectification of error. The said provision not only provides for correction of the arithmetic error and clerical error which are apparent on the face of the record as pointed out by the declarant or suo motu by the designated authority. Admittedly the declarant had not pointed the error. However, their case is that they were orally informed that the documents have to be furnished which they complied with on 10th January, 2020. If the relevant documents were available with the department which clearly shows that there is a typographical or clerical error in entering the correct number and date of the order-in-original it would have been well within the jurisdiction of the Designated Authority to permit the assessee to make necessary amendment to the declaration. If such exercise had been done, it would augur well bearing in mind the purpose for which the Central Government brought about the SVS Scheme. Thus if the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of rejection was communicated to the appellant after expiry of the last date stipulated under the said scheme for submission of the application and also that the relevant materials are available with the Designated Committee, this Court is of the considered view that the Designated Committee should be directed to consider the claim of the appellant as to the entitlement of the appellant to the benefits of the said scheme. 11. On this issue it is beneficial to take note of the decision of the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in the case of Hitech Projects Private Limited vs. Union of India reported in 2020(39) GSTL 388. More or less identical situation was considered by the Hon'ble Division Bench and the communication rejecting the application was quashed and the Designated Committee was directed to decide the application afresh. 12. Further, in the case of M/s. Sobha Limited vs. Union of India Anr. (CWP 10804-2020 (O M) dated 25.09.020 the Hon'ble Division Bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh had considered an identical issue and the order of rejection of the declaration filed in Form SVLDRS-1 was set aside and direction was issued to the desi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... had been issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs pursuant to an interim order passed by the High Court of Karnataka in WP 11485 of 2020 dated 27.11.2020. The said communication of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes dated 8.1.2020 is to the following effect. Sub : Interim order dated 27.11.2020 of the Hon ble High Court of Karnataka in Writ Petition No.11485/2020 filed by M/s. Mars Estates Pvt. Ltd. pertaining to the issue of SVLDRS 2019- reg. I am directed to refer to your office letter dated 29.12.2020 on the above mentioned subject. 2 . It is hereby informed that in cases, where the Hon ble High Court decides in favour of the petitioner and directs the department to extend the benefit of the SVLDRS, 2019 to the petitioner, then to give effect to such directions, the Board may allow manual processing of the subject declaration subject to the following conditions : (i) The said order has been accepted by the concerned Commissionerate is not proposed to be challenged before the Hon ble Supreme Court. (ii) The Ld. ASG of the concerned High Court has advised for acceptance of the said order. (iii) The Systems Directorate has ex ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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