CUSTOM
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Appeals to Collector (Appeals).-
(1) Any person including an officer of Customs aggrieved by any decision or order passed under sections 33, 79, 80,131,179 and 195 by an officer of Customs below the rank of Additional Collector may prefer appeal to the Collector (Appeals) within thirty days of the date of communication to him of such decision or order:
Provided that an appeal preferred after the expiry of thirty days may be admitted by the Collector (Appeals) if he is satisfied that the appellant has sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within that period.
(2) An appeal under this section shall be in such form and shall be verified in such manner as may be prescribed by rules made in this behalf.
(3) An appeal made under this Act shall be accompanied by a fee of one thousand rupees to be paid in the manner that may be prescribed by the Board.
CUSTOM
Appellate Tribunal.-
(1) Any person or an officer of Customs aggrieved by any of the following orders may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such orders:-
(a) a decision or order passed by an officer of Customs not below the rank of Additional Collector under section 179.
(ab) an order passed by the Collector (Appeals) under section 193;
(b) Omitted.
(c) an order passed under section 193, as it stood immediately before the appointed day;
(d) an order passed under section 195 by the Board or an officer of Customs not below the rank of an Additional Collector;
(e) an order passed in revision by the Director-General Customs Valuation under section 25D, provided that such appeal shall be heard by a special bench consisting of one technical member and one judicial member.
Provided that the Appellate Tribunal may, in its discretion, refuse to admit an appeal in respect of an order referred to in subsection(1) where-
(i) the value of the goods confiscated without option having been given to the owner of the goods to pay a fine in lieu of confiscation under section 181; or
(ii) in any disputed case other than a case where the determination of any question having a relation to rate of duty of customs or to the value of goods for purposes of assessment is in issue or is one of the points in issue, the difference in duty involved or the duty involved; or
(iii) the amount of fine or penalty determined by such order; does not exceed fifty thousand rupees.
(2) Where the Board or the Collector of Customs is aggrieved by an order passed by the Collector (Appeals), it, or as the case may be, he may prefer an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal. Such appeal shall be preferred by an officer, not below the rank of Assistant Collector or Assistant Director so authorized in writing by the Board or the Collector or the Director, as the case may be.
(3) Every appeal under this section shall be filed within sixty days from the date on which the decision or order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the Board or the Collector of Customs, or as the case may be, the other party preferring the appeal.
(4) On receipt of notice that an appeal has been preferred under this section, the party against whom the appeal has been preferred may, notwithstanding that he may not have appealed against such order or any part thereof, file, within thirty days of the receipt of the notice, a memorandum of cross-objections verified in such manner as may be specified by rules made in this behalf against any part of the order appealed against and such memorandum shall be disposed of by the Appellate Tribunal as if it were an appeal presented within the time specified in sub-section (3).
(5) The Appellate Tribunal may admit an appeal or permit the filing of a memorandum of cross-objections after the expiry of the relevant period referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4), if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period.
(6) An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal shall be in such form and shall be verified in such manner as may be specified by the rules made in this behalf and shall, except in the case of a memorandum of cross-objections referred to in sub-section (4), be accompanied by a fee of one thousand rupees.
(7) All cases pending, immediately before the commencement of the Finance Ordinance, with the Collector(Appeals) shall stand transferred to the Appellate Tribunal for disposal in accordance with law.
(8) Notwithstanding anything in this Act where any reference or appeal was preferred with the approval of Collector of Customs by the officer of lower rank than that of the Collector and the reference or appeal is pending before an appellate forum or the Court, such reference or appeal shall be deemed to have been so filed by the Collector and for removal of doubt it is hereby declared the pending appeals shall not abate solely on this ground.
CUSTOM
Reference to High Court. –
(1) Within ninety days of the date on which the aggrieved person or Collector or Director of Intelligence and Investigation, or Director of Valuation, as the case may be, was served with order of the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (3) of section 194B, the aggrieved person or any officer of Customs not below the rank of an Additional Collector or Additional Director, authorized by the Collector or Director in writing, may prefer an application, in the prescribed form along with a statement of the case, to the High Court, stating any question of law arising out of such order.
(2) The statement to the High Court, referred to in sub-section (1), shall set out the facts, the determination of the Appellate Tribunal and the question of law, which arises out of such order.
(3) Where, on an application made under sub-section (1), the High Court is satisfied that a question of law arises out of the order, referred to in sub-section (1), may proceed to hear the cases.
(4) A reference to the High Court under this section shall be heard by a Bench of not less than two judges of the High Court and, in respect of the reference, the provisions of section 98 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908), shall apply so far as may be, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force.
(5) The High Court upon hearing a reference under this section shall decide the question of law raised by the reference and pass judgment thereon specifying the grounds on which such judgment is based and the Tribunal’s order shall stand modified accordingly. The Court shall send a copy of the judgment under the seal of the Court to the Appellate Tribunal:
“Provided that the reference filed under sub-section (1) shall be decided within six months of filing the application or within such extended period as the High Court may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, fix.”.
(6) Notwithstanding that a reference has been made to the High Court, the duty shall be payable in accordance with the order of the Appellate Tribunal:
Provided that, the amount of duty is reduced as a result of the judgment in the reference by such officer as authorized by the Collector or the High Court, and any amount of duty is found refundable, the High Court may, on application submitted by the Collector, within thirty days of the receipt of the judgment of the High Court, that he wants to prefer petition for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, make an order authorizing the Collector to postpone the refund until the disposal of the appeal by the Supreme Court.
(7) Where recovery of duty has been stayed by the High Court by an order, such order shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of six months following the day on which it is made unless the reference is decided, or such order is withdrawn by the High Court earlier.
(8) Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1908 (IX of 1908), shall apply to an application made to the High Court under sub-section (1).
(9) An application under sub-section (1) by a person other than such officer as authorized by the Collector the Collector shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred rupees.
(10) Notwithstanding anything in this Act where any reference or appeal was preferred with the approval of Collector by the officer below the rank of Collector, and the reference or appeal is pending before appellate forum or the Court, such reference or appeal shall be deemed to have been preferred and shall be deemed always to have been so preferred by the Collector.