SC Lists Conditions To Be Met For Admitting Appeal Against CESTAT Order [Read Judgment]

Refuses to admit SAIL appeal against CESTAT order.

The Supreme Court, in Steel Authority of India Ltd vs Designated Authority, Directorate General Of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties & Ors, has observed that the following conditions must be satisfied before admitting an appeal under Section 130 E (b) of the Customs Act against an order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT):

• The question raised or arising must have a direct and/or proximate nexus to the question of determination of the applicable rate of duty or to the determination of the value of the goods for the purposes of assessment of duty. This is a sine qua non for the admission of the appeal before this Court under Section 130 E (b) of the Act.


• The question raised must involve a substantial question of law, which has not been answered or, on which, there is a conflict of decisions necessitating a resolution.


• If the tribunal, on consideration of the material and relevant facts, had arrived at a conclusion which is a possible conclusion, the same must be allowed to rest even if this Court is inclined to take another view of the matter.


• The tribunal had acted in gross violation of the procedure or principles of natural justice occasioning a failure of justice.

The above parameters, which by no means should be considered to be exhaustive, the bench comprising Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Ashok Bhushan added.

Applying these conditions to the appeal filed by SAIL, the court refused to admit the appeal, observing that the basis on which appellate tribunal had dismissed the appeals were findings of fact arrived at on due consideration of all relevant materials on record.

Read the Judgment here.