The authority could be directly under the member (legal and judicial) in the Central Board of Excise & Customs so that its working is independent from revenue compulsions, said CII.

"There have been several instances when disputes have cropped up on account of deliberate raising and confirmation of false demands by the revenue authorities merely for the sake of projecting higher revenue figures", said a senior CII official.

According to an analysis of 2,140 dispute cases (1,696 of excise duty and 444 of customs duty) during financial year 1998-99 undertaken by CII, a predominant number went in the favour of the assessee.

Of the 1,696 cases pertaining to excise duty, 1,279 were those in which the assessee went in for an appeal against the decision of the excise authorities.