Kashish Products Impex Pvt. Ltd. Vs Deputy Commissioner (Delhi High Court)
Summary: The Delhi High Court partly allowed the appeal of M/s Kashish Products Impex Pvt. Ltd. and directed the Commissioner (Appeals) to reconsider its claim afresh after finding that the notices of personal hearing had not been proved to have been served upon the appellant. The dispute arose from proceedings concerning refund and interest on pre-deposits aggregating to Rs. 1.65 crore made in connection with an excise appeal.
The appellant’s substantive excise appeal had earlier been allowed by CESTAT on 2 February 2018. It thereafter sought refund of Rs. 1.65 crore along with interest. The Department initially sanctioned the principal refund together with interest, which was subsequently reduced by a corrigendum. In Revenue’s appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals) passed an ex-parte order and remanded the matter for reconsideration of the interest payable. The appellant maintained that it had never received the personal-hearing notices and challenged the ex-parte adjudication.
The High Court noted that although the Revenue claimed that hearing notices had been issued, no acknowledgement or other material establishing their service upon the appellant was produced. The appellant also demonstrated that its counsel had appeared before the same Commissioner (Appeals) on 13 December 2018 in another matter between the same parties. According to the Court, this circumstance further supported the appellant’s case that it had not received notice of hearing in the present matter.
