Page 34 - ELT_1st August 2020_Vol 373_Part 3

A72 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

As a proactive measure, the Central Government has increased the mon-
etary limits for filing of appeals by the Department before the CESTAT, High
Courts and Supreme Court on a few occasions. The latest monetary limit was
introduced on 22nd August, 2019 [2020 (367) E.L.T. (T38)]. They are -
Monetary limit
Dispute Resolution Forum (In ` )
Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal - 50,00,000/-
CESTAT
High Courts 1,00,00,000/-
Supreme Court 2,00,00,000/-

No doubt, the aforesaid monetary limit has reduced protracted litigation.
However, given revenue impact of such measures any further increase in mone-
tary limits for appeals will not be desirable and in any case such measures are
not a permanent solution for frequent litigation. One of the key reasons for in-
crease in litigation is the varied interpretations of the Customs Laws provisions,
which is due to the nature of drafting. The Law Reform Commission of Victoria
righty said that ‘The language of the law has been a source of concern to the
community’. Regrettably, in India taxing statutes are plagued by jargon, legalism
and archaic words/phrases. The Central Government should try to draft ‘Cus-
toms Provisions, Rules, Issuance of Notifications, in as simple language as possi-
ble as, which will save cost and valuable time not only of the Apex Court and
High Courts who spend most of their time in unearthing the Legislators’ inten-
tion, interpreting the provisions, pronouncing the judgments. They should take
note of the advice given by the Famous American Writer, Mark Twain, in one of
his letters ‘I notice you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sen-
tences. That is the way to write English – it is the modern way and the best way,
stick to it, don’t let it fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in’.
Existing Customs Exemption Notifications
The Customs Act, 1962 and Rules issued therein have empowered the
Central Government to issue such ‘Notifications’ from time-to-time, in other
words, to carry its intentions under the said law by issuing formal declarations.
The following table shows how the present Customs Law ‘traversed’ through all
these years…..
Notifications/Circulars/Instructions Issued till date…..

Sl. Notifications Circulars Instructions
No.
1. Tariff 2,379 1,500 227
2. Non-Tariff 2,811
3. Safeguards 19
4. Anti-Dumping Duty 441
5. CVD 10
From the above, it is cleared that the present Customs Act, 1962 is not
one body. Further, the said Act is amended ‘n’ number of times to accommodate
frequent changes. As said above, a simplified version of Tariff and Non-Tariff

EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st August 2020  34