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2020 ] CESTAT NEW APPELLATE PROCEDURE FOR ONLINE FILING AND HEARING A11

uments, if any. The soft copies of the stay application, the relevant orders and the
documents, shall also be stored in two pen drives and filed along with such ap-
plication.
Thus, in addition to what was required till now, the soft copy of stay ap-
plication, relevant orders and documents shall now also be required to be stored
in two pen drives and filed along with stay application.
The above amendments are a welcome move, though belatedly but
should now be looked as an opportunity arising out of present COVID-19 situa-
tion where social distancing and other precautions ought to be the need of hour.
However, the present amendments do not reduce any burden of the appel-
lant/respondent but casts upon additional responsibility of submitting pen
drives (not by e-mail or transfer of data under digital signature). The threat of
loss of pen drives and secured platform for video-conferencing as well as connec-
tively will always be there.
It will be now desirable to act upon these amendments and look forward
to a scenario where paper filing and physical hearing can be completely dis-
pensed with. It is also needed that some clarifications be issued by way of Fre-
quently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) before implementation.

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EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st July 2020  37