National Litigation Policy - CBEC Sermons

The circular of the CBEC about litigation management, avoidance of unnecessary SCNs sounds like mockery in the face of actual practice in the field. If the Board issues circulars advising against uncontrolled issue of SCNs, why are the departmental officers bent upon converting every audit objection and every investigation into another SCN? Doesn't this Board circular protect an officer who decides not to issue SCN, or pass an order dropping the proceeding? But, none down the line, even at the first appellate level is willing to pass an order ending frivolous litigation. Law is made to stand on its head for confirming an untenable demand, or upholding a bad adjudication order. One can only guess that the Board is running with the hare and hunting with the hound. While issuing sanctimonious circular in keeping with the public policy on litigation, it also pressures the authorities below to meet revenue targets, take recovery steps, pass orders to close the cases. One pointer to this Janus face of the CBEC is the pressure brought on all the CE and ST assessees to pay duty only in cash during the months of February and March, and not to use cenvat credit, so that the jurisdictional authorities may show higher revenue recovery. Has the Board ever undertaken quality audit of adjudication or appellate orders? Has it ever pulled up an officer for passing bad and untenable order, or for judicial indiscipline? None that I know of. I can only conclude that this kind of circular smacks of intellectual dishonesty.

Gururaj B N 22/05/2015