Page 78 - ELT_1st September 2020_Vol 373_Part 5

T88 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

CESTAT Circulars
CESTAT — E-hearing of Appeals at Mumbai, Bangalore,
Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Delhi, Kolkata and
Allahabad Benches on request of Counsel — Procedure
prescribed
By Public Notice No. 2 of 2020, dated 10-8-2020, the Hon’ble President
has approved e-hearing of appeals at Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad,
Chandigarh and Hyderabad Benches of the Tribunal. Thereafter, the Bar
Associations at Delhi, Kolkata and Allahabad have also filed representations for
extending the facility of e-hearing. Hon’ble President, therefore, directs that
appeals to be taken will be heard through video conferencing platform on a
request made by the counsel. The procedures relating to listing, technical
requirements, standard operating procedures and the protocols to be observed
are described in Annexure I.
Any party desirous of getting an appeal heard by video conferencing
may send a request, as prescribed in Annexure II, to the Registry by e-mail.
Request forms received from Monday to Thursday will be listed for hearing as
per roster in the following week in order of seniority, subject to a maximum of
four matters on a day. The appeal for which a request has been made for e-
hearing should otherwise be ripe for hearing in normal course or early hearing
was allowed by separate order or as per direction of higher courts and, no other
application therein is pending.
The system of e-hearing of Appeals applies to Delhi, Kolkata and
Allahabad Benches of the Tribunal as well and will remain in force until further
orders.
This Notification comes into force with immediate effect.
Annexure I
PROCEDURE FOR E-HEARING OF APPEALS BY CESTAT
(www.cestatnew.gov.in)
I. Introduction
The lock down declared by the Government due to COVID 19 pandemic
has affected the regular hearing of appeals by all the Benches of the Tribunal
since 16 March 2020. Even after five months the situation has only worsened and
it is not conducive to conduct physical hearing of appeals. Therefore, the system
of hearing of cases through video conferencing as an alternative mode which was
adopted by the Courts and Tribunals in the country has been applied to hearing
of urgent applications in CESTAT from 1 July 2020. There has been a growing
demand from some Bar Associations to extend the facility to e-hearing of appeals
as per individual request. It is the endeavor of the Customs, Excise and Service
Tax Appellate Tribunal to dispose appeals through e-hearing till the situation
improves.
II. Video Conferencing Platform
For conducting e-hearing of appeals on video conferencing platform, Jitsi
meet appears to be more adaptable since it has been tested successfully. Jitsi meet
is an open source software and is available for download at

EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st September 2020  78