Handling of Appeal cases for Imports and Exports

 A Centralised Review and Appeal Cell (CRAC) is being created in JNCH under the jurisdiction of the Commissionerate NS-V to monitor/co-ordinate/process all orders-in-original (OIO) passed by authorities up to the level of Additional Commissioner, filing of appeals before the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) and CESTAT, examination / review of the orders of the Commissioner (Appeals) /CESTAT, whether such orders were in consequence of appeal preferred by the department or importer/exporters/others.

Guidelines in order to streamline the procedure of review, filing of appeal etc

1.   OIOs passed upto level of Additional Commissioner of Customs: Copies of all such adjudication orders by adjudicating authorities shall be endorsed to the CRAC, which shall put up such orders for acceptance or otherwise to the concerned Commissioner, through the supervising Joint/Additional Commissioner (in-charge of group / section) of the adjudicating authority. In case the order is accepted in review by the competent authority, the CRAC shall intimate to the concerned section/group/CAC with a note of acceptance. In case it is decided by the Commissioner that the order is not legal and proper, the CRAC shall, within five days of such decision, put up a formal direction to the adjudicating authority, under Section 129 D(2), for the approval of the Commissioner. The said direction of the Commissioner shall be conveyed to the concerned group/section for filing appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals). Upon filing of such appeal, the concerned group/section shall intimate the CRAC accordingly.

2. OIAs passed by Commissioner (Appeals): All such orders shall be examined in the CRAC for acceptance or otherwise. The file will be put up by Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Review) through the Additional/Joint Commissioner in-charge of the group/section to the concerned Committee of Commissioners. If the "order-in-appeal" is accepted by the said committee, the CRAC shall inform the concerned Group/Section accordingly, for further necessary action. In case the Committee of Commissioners is of the view that the order-in-appeal is not legal and proper, the necessary authorisation and grounds of appeal shall be prepared and the appeal shall be filed before the CESTAT by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Review). Copy of said appeal shall be sent to the concerned Group/Section for taking further necessary action in relation to similar matters.

3. OIOs passed by Commissioner of Customs: Orders-in-Original, passed by the Commissioners of Customs, if reviewed by the Committee of Chief Commissioners with a direction to file appeal before the CESTAT, shall be handled by the Cell and appeal would be filed in the CESTAT by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Review) based on the "order of review" and "grounds of appeal" as communicated by the Chief Commissioner's Office. Copy of said appeal shall also be sent to the concerned group/section for taking further necessary action in relation to similar matters.

4. CESTAT orders: All orders passed by the CESTAT shall be examined in the CRAC and will be put up by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Review) to the concerned Commissioner of Customs through the Additional/Joint Commissioner in-charge of the concerned group/section. If any order of the CESTAT, which is adverse to the revenue, is accepted by the Commissioner, concurrence of the Chief Commissioner shall be obtained as per Customs Board's instructions. If any appeal is to be preferred against any order of the CESTAT with High Court/Supreme Court, the CRAC shall obtain the necessary concurrence of the Chief Commissioner. Such appeals shall, however, be filed by the Centralised Legal Cell and the CRAC shall forward the file to the CLC along with the grounds of appeal and review order. Copy of all orders passed by CESTAT alongwith status (acceptance or appealed against) and copy of appeal, if filed shall be sent to the concerned group/section for taking further necessary action in relation to similar matters.

5. Seeking Comments from Group / Section: As soon as copy of any OIA or CESTAT order is received, a copy of the same should be sent to concerned group / section seeking comments on factual as well as legal point. However, in order to ensure that there is no delay in further processing of said OIA / CESTAT order, concerned group / section is required to send comments (on facts as well as on law points) within 10 days of receipt of said communication. If no comments are received within the said period of 10 days, it will be presumed that group / section has no comments to offer and it will be treated as deemed recommendation of acceptance of said OIA / CESTAT orders. While processing the any other order, if it is felt that any factual information needs to be verified, the CRAC may seek comments/views from the concerned group/section with the approval of the Additional/Joint Commissioner (Review). It is expected that concerned group/section shall reply to such requests within 05 days from the date of receipt. In case of delay, the CRAC will bring this fact to the notice of Additional/Joint Commissioner(Review) for perusal, who shall interact with his concerned counterpart to ensure that the matter is resolved on priority.

6. Time frame for Completion of work: The Cell shall ordinarily process orders- in-original/ appellate orders in the following time frame:

Officer	TA	EO/PO	Supdt./AO	AC/DC
Maximum Time	2 days	3 days	1 week	1 week

6.1   The file should be put up to concerned Commissioner within 3 weeks from the receipt of order for deciding the case. This time limit shall, however, not apply to the orders of CESTAT involving an issue of classification or valuation, where the appeal lies to the Supreme Court. In such cases, the case file must be put up to the concerned Commissioner within 5 days of receipt of the orders of the Tribunal. Therefore, it is essential that at the time of receipt of CESTAT order itself, orders involving an issue of classification or valuation are identified and processed expeditiously.

6.2   In case of remand, the approval and communication should be made by the CRAC to the CAC as well as to adjudicating authority within one week from the receipt of order for initiating denovo proceedings.

6.3   The timelines for filing appeal by the Department, as prescribed by Board, are as follows:

S. No.	Order By	Appeal to	Period for filing Review	Period for filing Appeal	Customs Section
1	Adjudicating Authorities subordinate to Commissioner	Commissioner (Appeal)	3 months	1 month	129 D
2	Commissioner (Appeals)	CESTAT		3 months	129 D
3	Commissioner	CESTAT	3 months	1 month	129 D
4	CESTAT	High Court		180 days	130
5	CESTAT	Supreme Court		60 days*	130 E
6	High Court	Supreme Court		90 days**	130 E

       * Period for filing Civil Appeal in case of classification & valuation matters.

       ** Period for filing SLP.

6.4   Since the proposal for filing of appeal/SLP before the Supreme Court against the order of Tribunal / High Court respectively, should be sent to the Board within 15 days of receipt of the order/ 20 days of the pronouncement of order, hence in all such cases, such decision should be communicated within 10 days from the receipt of the order or pronouncement of order so that Centralised Legal Cell will have sufficient time to file appeal/send proposal for filing appeal to JS (Review).