Hyderabad: More than Rs 17,000 crore worth GST and customs excise tax appeals from Hyderabad customs excise and GST zone are pending in various courts and tribunals. The appeals are pending before the Supreme Court, Telangana high court and the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT).
As per the data of the ministry of law and justice, Rs 2,603 crore worth of appeals are pending in the Supreme Court, Rs 2,637 crore worth of appeals in the high court, Rs 11,808 crore in CESTAT and Rs 220 crore in the commissionerate as on January 2022. In the entire country, Rs 3.3 lakh crore worth of appeals are pending.
Stating this, law minister Kiren Rijiju informed Lok Sabha recently that “the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) under the department of revenue have issued a slew of instructions and brought in several measures for reducing litigations and the resultant burden on courts.”
CBDT has issued circulars directing the field officers that pending appeals before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals, high courts and the Supreme Court with tax effect below the specified limits may be withdrawn and not pressed. This is being done for facilitating a better and concerted focus on high-demand litigations.
The CBDT has also clarified to the field officers that appeals should not be filed merely because the tax effect in a particular case exceeds the prescribed monetary limits and the filing of an appeal should be decided strictly on the merits of the case.
“Field formations under the CBIC have been instructed to withdraw appeals pending in high courts/CESTAT where the Supreme Court has decided on an identical matter. Besides, CBIC has also instructed its field formations not to contest further in appeals where the issue has been lost in two stages of appeals. It has already been proposed to bring a national litigation policy with the objective to lay down guidelines for preventing, controlling and reducing litigation,” Rijiju told the house.