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Amendment to Secrion 32 of the Central Excise Act
In section 32A of the Central Excise Act, after the proviso to sub-section (6), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:ΓÇö
ΓÇ£Provided further that at any stage of the hearing of any such case or matter, referred to in the first proviso, the Chairman may, if he thinks that the case or matter is of such a nature that it ought to be heard by a Bench consisting of three Members, constitute such Bench and if Vice-Chairman is not one of the Members, the senior among the Members shall act as the presiding officer of such Bench.ΓÇ¥.
In section 32E of the Central Excise Act, with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007, for subsection (1), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:ΓÇö
ΓÇ£(1) An assessee may, in respect of a case relating to him, make an application, before adjudication, to the Settlement Commission to have the case settled, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed and containing a full and true disclosure of his duty liability which has not been disclosed before the Central Excise Officer having jurisdiction, the manner in which such liability has been derived, the additional amount of excise duty accepted to be payable by him and such other particulars as may be prescribed including the particulars of such excisable goods in respect of which he admits short levy on account of misclassification, under-valuation, inapplicability of exemption notification or CENVAT credit but excluding the goods in respect of which no proper record has been maintained by the assessee in his daily stock register and any such application shall be disposed of in the manner hereinafter provided:
Provided that no such application shall be made unless,ΓÇö
(a) the applicant has filed returns showing production, clearance and central excise duty paid in the prescribed manner;
(b) a show cause notice for recovery of duty issued by the Central Excise Officer has been received by the applicant;
(c) the additional amount of duty accepted by the applicant in his application exceeds three lakh rupees; and
(d) the applicant has paid the additional amount of excise duty accepted by him along with interest due under section 11AB:
Provided further that no application shall be entertained by the Settlement Commission under this sub-section in cases which are pending with the Appellate Tribunal or any court :
Provided also that no application under this sub-section shall be made for the interpretation of the classification of excisable goods under the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.
(1A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an application was made under sub-section (1), before the 1st day of June, 2007 but an order under sub-section (1) of section 32 F has not been made before the said date or payment of amount so ordered by the Settlement Commission under sub-section (1) of section 32F has not been made, the applicant shall within a period of thirty days from the 1st day of June, 2007, pay the accepted duty liability failing which his application shall be liable to be rejected.ΓÇ¥.
For section 32F of the Central Excise Act, with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007, the following section shall be substituted, namely:ΓÇö
ΓÇÿΓÇÿ32F. (1) On receipt of an application under sub-section (1) of section 32E, the Settlement Commission shall, within seven days from the date of receipt of the application, issue a notice to the applicant to explain in writing as to why the application made by him should be allowed to be proceeded with, and after taking into consideration the explanation provided by the applicant, the Settlement Commission, shall, within a period of fourteen days from the date of the notice, by an order, allow the application to be proceeded with, or reject the application as the case may be, and the proceedings before the Settlement Commission shall abate on the date of rejection:
Provided that where no notice has been issued or no order has been passed within the aforesaid period by the Settlement Commission, the application shall be deemed to have been allowed to be proceeded with.
(2) A copy of every order under sub-section (1), shall be sent to the applicant and to the Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction.
(3) Where an application is allowed or deemed to have been allowed to be proceeded with under sub-section (1), the Settlement Commission shall, within seven days from the date of order under sub-section (1), call for a report along with the relevant records from the Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction and the Commissioner shall furnish the report within a period of thirty days of the receipt of communication from the Settlement Commission:
Provided that where the Commissioner does not furnish the report within the aforesaid period of thirty days, the Settlement Commission shall proceed further in the matter without the report of the Commissioner.
(4) Where a report of the Commissioner called for under sub-section (3) has been furnished within the period specified in that sub-section, the Settlement Commission may, after examination of such report, if it is of the opinion that any further enquiry or investigation in the matter is necessary, direct, for reasons to be recorded in writing, the Commissioner (Investigation) within fifteen days of the receipt of the report, to make or cause to be made such further enquiry or investigation and furnish a report within a period of ninety days of the receipt of the communication from the Settlement Commission, on the matters covered by the application and any other matter relating to the case:
Provided that where the Commissioner (Investigation) does not furnish the report within the aforesaid period, the Settlement Commission shall proceed to pass an order under sub-section (5) without such report.
(5) After examination of the records and the report of the Commissioner of Central Excise received under sub-section (3), and the report, if any, of the Commissioner (Investigation) of the Settlement Commission under sub-section (4), and after giving an opportunity to the applicant and to the Commissioner of Central Excise having jurisdiction to be heard, either in person or through a representative duly authorised in this behalf, and after examining such further evidence as may be placed before it or obtained by it, the Settlement Commission may, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, pass such order as it thinks fit on the matters covered by the application and any other matter relating to the case not covered by the application, but referred to in the report of the Commissioner of Central Excise and Commissioner (Investigation) under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4).
(6) An order under sub-section (5) shall not be passed in respect of an application filed on or before the 31st day of May, 2007, later than the 29th day of February, 2008 and in respect of an application made on or after the 1st day of June, 2007, after nine months from the last day of the month in which the application was made, failing which the settlement proceedings shall abate, and the adjudicating authority before whom the proceeding at the time of making the application was pending, shall dispose of the case in accordance with the provisions of this Act as if no application under section 32E had been made.
(7) Subject to the provisions of section 32A, the materials brought on record before the Settlement Commission shall be considered by the Members of the concerned Bench before passing any order under sub-section (5) and, in relation to the passing of such order, the provisions of section 32D shall apply.
(8) The order passed under sub-section (5) shall provide for the terms of settlement including any demand by way of duty, penalty or interest, the manner in which any sums due under the settlement shall be paid and all other matters to make the settlement effective and in case of rejection contain the reasons therefor and it shall also provide that the settlement shall be void if it is subsequently found by the Settlement Commission that it has been obtained by fraud, or misrepresentation of facts:
Provided that the amount of settlement ordered by the Settlement Commission shall not be less than the duty liability admitted by the applicant under section 32E.
(9) Where any duty, interest, fine and penalty payable in pursuance of an order under sub-section (5), is not paid by the assessee within thirty days of receipt of a copy of the order by him, the amount which remains unpaid, shall be recovered along with interest due thereon, as the sums due to the Central Government by the Central Excise Officer having jurisdiction over the assessee in accordance with the provisions of section 11.
(10) Where a settlement becomes void as provided under sub-section (8), the proceedings with respect to the matters covered by the settlement shall be deemed to have been revived from the stage at which the application was allowed to be proceeded with by the Settlement Commission and the Central Excise Officer having jurisdiction may, notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, complete such proceedings at any time before the expiry of two years from the date of the receipt of communication that the settlement became void.ΓÇ¥.
In section 32H of the Central Excise Act, after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007, namely:ΓÇö
ΓÇÿΓÇÿProvided further that no proceeding shall be reopened by the Settlement Commission under this section in a case where an application under section 32E is made on or after the 1st day of June, 2007.ΓÇÖΓÇÖ.
In section 32-I of the Central Excise Act, in sub-section (2), for the brackets and figures ΓÇ£(7)ΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£(6)ΓÇ¥, the brackets and figures ΓÇ£(5)ΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£(4)ΓÇ¥ shall respectively be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007.
In section 32K of the Central Excise Act, with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007,ΓÇö (i) in sub-section (1),ΓÇö
(a) for the words ΓÇ£or under the Indian Penal Code or under any other Central Act for the time being in force and also either wholly or in part from the imposition of any penalty, fine and interestΓÇ¥ the words ΓÇ£and also either wholly or in part from the imposition of any penalty and fineΓÇ¥ shall be substituted;
(b) after the proviso, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:ΓÇö
ΓÇ£Explanation.ΓÇöFor the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that applications filed before the Settlement Commission on or before the 31st day of May, 2007 shall be disposed of as if the amendment in this section had not come into force.ΓÇ¥;
(ii) in sub-section (2), for the words, brackets, figures and letter ΓÇ£sub-section (7) of section 32F within the time specified in such order or within such further time as may be allowed by the Settlement CommissionΓÇ¥, the words, brackets, figures and letter ΓÇ£sub-section (5) of section 32F within the time specified in such orderΓÇ¥ shall be substituted.
In section 32M of the Central Excise Act, for the brackets and figure ΓÇÿΓÇÿ(7)ΓÇÖΓÇÖ, the brackets and figure ΓÇÿΓÇÿ(5)ΓÇÖΓÇÖ shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007.
In section 32N of the Central Excise Act, for the brackets and figure ΓÇ£(7)ΓÇ¥, the brackets and figure ΓÇ£(5)ΓÇ¥ shall be substituted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007.
118. Section 32-O of the Central Excise Act shall be renumbered as sub-section (1) thereof and,ΓÇö
(i) in sub-section (1) as so renumbered, for the word ΓÇÿΓÇÿWhereΓÇÖΓÇÖ, the words, figures and letters ΓÇÿΓÇÿWhere, before the 1st day of June, 2007ΓÇÖΓÇÖ shall be substituted;
(ii) after sub-section (1) as so renumbered, the following sub-section shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007, namely: ΓÇô
ΓÇ£(2) Where an assessee has made an application under sub-section (1) of section 32E, on or after the 1st day of June, 2007 and if such application has been allowed to be proceeded with under sub-section (1) of section 32F, such assessee shall not be entitled to apply for settlement under section 32E in relation to any other matter:
Provided that such assessee shall not be prevented from filing an application for settlement if the issue in the subsequent application is, but for the period of dispute and amount, identical to the issue in respect of which the earlier application is pending before the Settlement Commission.ΓÇ¥.
Section 32PA of the Central Excise Act shall be omitted with effect from the 1st day of June, 2007.
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Thanks for posting this information.
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