Paras Products Vs Commissioner Central GST (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court quashed orders due to inordinate delay of more than 11 years in finalizing adjudication proceeding. Held that matters having financial liabilities or penal consequences cannot be kept unresolved for years.
Facts- On 29.04.2011, pursuant to receipt of information, the Anti-Evasion Wing of the Central Excise, Delhi-1, conducted searches and effected seizures under the Central Excise Act, 1944 from the premises of the Petitioner firms and that of Mr. Parmod Kumar Jain. A panchnama of the seized goods was duly drawn. Mr. Parmod Kumar Jain was the proprietor of M/s Paras Products and M/s Sai Enterprises, and his son, Mr. Ankit Jain, was the proprietor of M/s Jaina Polymers.
Further to this search, a common Show Cause Notice dated 25.10.2011 came to be issued and on the passage of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the jurisdiction of the Respondent authorities altered and two (2) impugned OsIO came to be issued. Two SCNs dated 25.10.2011 and 30.12.2014 came to be issued to the Petitioners. One in respect of the seized goods and the other for the offended goods (past clearances).
The second SCN dated 30.12.2014 was issued to the Petitioner firms, proposing to demand duty in respect of offended goods cleared in the past. The said SCN was adjudicated vide Order-in-Original dated 28.08.2015 by Additional Commissioner, Central Excise, Delhi-1. In terms of the Order-in-Original, the duty demanded and interest and penalties imposed were paid. It is the first SCN dated 25.10.2011 that will require our attention. This came to be adjudicated only on 30.12.2022 and 02.03.2023 vide two separate OsIO.
