Commissioner of Customs Port Vs Greenpanel Industries Limited (Calcutta High Court)
The Calcutta High Court considered a batch of statutory appeals filed by the Revenue under Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 challenging various final orders of the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Eastern Zonal Bench, Kolkata. The matters were listed for formal admission to determine whether the memoranda of appeal disclosed substantial questions of law.
At the threshold, the respondents sought to contest the maintainability of the appeals before admission. They argued that the Court should first decide whether the appeals involved issues relating to the “rate of duty” under Section 130E and whether the High Court possessed jurisdiction. Relying on the High Court at Calcutta (Original Side) Rules, 1914, provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and various judicial decisions, they contended that permitting such a hearing would avoid unnecessary proceedings where the appeals were allegedly not maintainable.
The Revenue opposed the request, submitting that the Customs Act constitutes a self-contained code and that the admission stage under Section 130 is an ex parte screening exercise confined to determining whether a substantial question of law arises from the memorandum of appeal. It also relied on Supreme Court authority and the High Court’s earlier decision in OCOT 06 of 2025 to contend that respondents have no right to participate before admission in the absence of caveats or other exceptional circumstances.
