MUMBAI, Feb 15: Excise officials are on the prowl again. This time round, they are on a detention spree and are attaching the property of the assessee (and in some cases threatening to auction these), even before an appeal on the case is heard. The entire exercise, part of an attempt to boost indirect tax revenues, comes amid industry allegations of being denied Modvat credit facility up to March 31, 1998.Industry sources and a host of excise experts said that the coercive tactics adopted by excise officials had assumed such alarming proportions that the chief justice of the Mumbai high court has advised the commissioner of excise to avoid adopting such measures until the appeals are disposed of, so that the spate of such petitions is reduced. An excise official can attach an assessee's property under Rule 230 of the Excise Rules. Several corporates affected by this are forced to file writ petitions under Article 226 of the constitution, pleading for a removal of the detention order on their goods as theappeal for a stay had yet to be heard.
A leading excise expert said that the entire remedy available to an assessee is being rendered illusory by the excise officials' action. "This is mere target-related harassment by excise authorities," an official said. Under Section 35 of the Excise Act, an assessee can appeal against an assistant commmissioner's order to the commissioner of appeals within 90 days of the date of the order. Appeals against the commissioner appeals' order can be made to the tribunal (again, within 90 days of the former's order), while appeals against the tribunal's rulings are referred to the Supreme Court. Industry sources, however, say that excise officials are adopting coercive methods even before an assessee's appeal is heard, causing great hardship to industry.
Senior industry officials also allege that excise officials are arbitrarily rejecting appeals without even granting an opportunity for a personal hearing though no official version on this could be got.
Experts say thatexcise officials, now armed with the power to order special audits under Section 14(A) of the act, are allegedly issuing cyclostyled notices to industry on this front.
Further, industry (the assessee) is being asked to bear the cost of the audit, an official said. Since an assessee cannot utilise Modvat credit facilities while an audit is in progress, he is forced to pay duty in cash.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
