Dharampal Premchand Ltd. vs Commissioner Of Central Excise
2011 Latest Caselaw 3916 Del

*          IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+                     CEAC No.19 of 2011
                      CEAC No.20 of 2011


                            RESERVED ON: AUGUST 03, 2011
%                           PRONOUNCED ON:AUGUST 12,2011

+    CEAC No.19 of 2011

     DHARAMPAL PREMCHAND LTD.                       . . . APPELLANT

                      through :           Mr.     Pritesh     Kapur,
                                          Advocate.


                            VERSUS

     COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE               . . .RESPONDENT

                      through:            Mr.     Mukesh       Anand,
                                          Advocate with Mr. R.C.S.
                                          Bhadoria, Advocates.

+    CEAC No.20 of 2011

     DHARAMPAL PREMCHAND LTD.                       . . . APPELLANT

                      through :           Mr.     Pritesh     Kapur,
                                          Advocate.


                            VERSUS

     COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE               . . .RESPONDENT

                      through:            Mr.     Mukesh       Anand,
                                          Advocate with Mr. R.C.S.
                                          Bhadoria, Advocates.




CEAC No.19 of 2011 & CEAC No.20 of 2011                Page 1 of 23
 CORAM :-
    HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.K. SIKRI
    HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.L. MEHTA

     1.    Whether Reporters of Local newspapers may be allowed
           to see the Judgment?
     2.    To be referred to the Reporter or not?
     3.    Whether the Judgment should be reported in the Digest?


A.K. SIKRI, J.

1. When these appeals came up for preliminary hearing, the

learned counsel for the respondent appeared on advance

notice and as demurrer raised the objections about the

territorial jurisdiction of this Court to entertain these

appeals. For this reason, we heard the counsel for both

the parties at length. The facts which have given rise to

the question of jurisdiction, we may clarify that we are

taking note of those facts only which are relevant for

deciding this controversy eschewing other details which do

not concern the subject matter at this stage.

2. The appellant is in the business of manufacture of „Baba‟

brand Scented Chewing Tobacco, Scented Ellaichi,

Scented Supari, etc. Though it has a registered office at

Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, one of its manufacturing units

is situated in Barotiwala, District - Solan, Himachal

Pradesh.

3. Show cause notice dated 02.04.2003 was issued by the

Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Central Excise

Division, Shimla to the said unit of the appellant at

Himachal Pradesh under Section 11A of the Central Excise

Act, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as „the Act‟) proposing

to raise demand of short paid National Calamity

Contingent Duty („NCCD‟ for brevity) in the sum of

`54,0004/- on additive mixture cleared during the period

from 01.04.2002 to 16.10.2002 along with interest under

Section 11AB of the Act. Penalty under section 25 of the

Central Excise Rules, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as „the

Rules‟) was also proposed. Similar show cause notice

dated 19.06.2002 for another period, i.e., 01.10.2001 to

31.03.2002 and 01.04.2002 to 16.10.2002 was issued

vide two separate orders in two appeals. The appellant

replied to the said show cause notice claiming exemption

from the payment of duties. However, the Deputy

Commissioner passed orders dated 28.07.2004 holding

that the NCCD is leviable during the relevant period and

confirmed the demand of NCCD along with interest and

imposed personal penalty of `50,000/-.

4. The appellant preferred appeal against this order before

the Commissioner (Appeals), Chandigarh. The

Commissioner (Appeals), Chandigarh vide order dated

30.11.2004 allowed the appeal of the appellant and set

aside the order of the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla.

5. The Commissioner of Central Excise (CCE), Chandigarh

felt aggrieved by the said order and approached the

Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal

(hereinafter referred to as „the Tribunal‟), Principal Bench,

New Delhi. This appeal of the CCE has been allowed vide

orders dated 23.11.2010 thereby setting aside the order

of the Commissioner (Appeals), Chandigarh and restoring

that of the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla.

6. Challenging the aforesaid common order passed in two

appeals, present appeals are preferred by the appellant

under Section 35G of the Act. Objection to the territorial

jurisdiction of this Court raised by Mr. Mukesh Anand,

learned counsel for the respondent/Department is that the

unit of the appellant is situated in Himachal Pradesh. The

said unit is paying excise to the respondent‟s authorities in

Himachal Pradesh on clearing the excisable goods.

Dispute about the non-payment of NCCD arises in

Himachal Pradesh, as the same was not paid for the

period in question while clearing the excisable goods. For

this reason, it is the Office of the Commissioner, Central

Excise, Division - Shimla, which initiated the action for

recovery of the NCCD by issuing the show cause notice

and passing the adjudication order. He, thus, submitted

that merely because the Appellate Authority like, the

Tribunal has its office in Delhi, would not mean that

against the order passed by the Tribunal, this Court will

have territorial jurisdiction. He referred to a very recent

judgment of Five Judges Bench of this Court in a batch

matters with lead case M/s. Sterling Agro Industries

Ltd. Vs. Union of India & Ors. (decided on 01.08.2011

in W.P. (C) No.6570/2010, submitting that the said

judgment is applicable on all forces in this case and

clinches the issue.

7. The submission of Mr. Pritesh Kapur, learned counsel

appearing for the appellant, per contra, was that the

aforesaid judgment in M/s. Sterling Agro Industries

Ltd. (supra) dealt with the question of jurisdiction and

was not concerned with statutory appeals. He argued that

insofar as statutory appeals like the present one preferred

under Section 35G of the Act are concerned, these would

be covered by the specific provision and argued that

reading these provisions would clearly demonstrate that

the appeal was maintainable in the High Court of Delhi.

Before we take note of this submission in detail, we would

discuss the judgment of M/s. Sterling Agro Industries

Ltd. (supra) in the principles for discerning the territorial

jurisdiction, which are laid down therein, as the

understanding of those principles stated in the said

judgment would be necessary to understand and deal with

the contentions of the learned counsel for the appellant.

8. In the case before the Five Judges Bench also, the

admitted position was that the petitioner - industry was

situate in District - Bhind, Malanpur in the State of

Madhya Pradesh. The initial order was passed by the

Assistant Commissioner of Customs ICD, Malanpur,

District - Bhind (M.P.). The appellate order was passed

by the Commissioner (Appeals) - I, Customs and Central

Excise & Service Tax at Indore (M.P.). Against the order

of the Commissioner (Appeals), revision was preferred by

the petitioner before the Revisional Authority, viz., Officer

of the Joint Secretary to the Government of India,

Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, New Delhi,

which was also dismissed vide orders dated 09.07.2010.

Since there is no further statutory appellate, challenging

the orders dated 09.07.2010, the petitioner had invoked

the jurisdiction of this Court at New Delhi under Article

226 of the Constitution of India. In this backdrop, the

question arose as to whether the decision dated

09.07.2010 passed by the Revisional Authority at New

Delhi would clothe the High Court of Delhi with necessary

territorial jurisdiction. Obviously there also, the

respondent had taken plea that since the petitioner had

its premises at Madhya Pradesh; initial orders were

passed in Madhya Pradesh and even the appellate order

was passed by the Authority in Madhya Pradesh, the

Court in Delhi would not have territorial jurisdiction only

because the revisional authority has its situs in New

Delhi for revision against the order passed by the

Commission (appeals) in Madhya Pradesh.

9. Since some diversion of opinion of different Benches of

this Court was found and the doubts with regard to

correctness and soundness of the earlier decision of the

Full Bench of this Court in New India Assurance

Company Limited Vs. Union of India and Others [AIR

2010 Delhi 43 (FB)] were expressed, the matter was

referred to the Larger Bench consisting of Five Benches.

This is how the question of jurisdiction was dealt with

elaborately and exhaustively by Five Judges Bench in its

judgment dated 01.08.2011 answering the reference by

partially overruling and clarifying the decision in New

India Assurance Company Limited (supra).

10. It is not necessary to spell out the detailed analysis of the

relevant case, which was undertaken by the Five Judges

Bench in the said matter. Our purpose would be served

by reproducing the last few paras of the said judgments

along with conclusion stated in Para 32:

"30. From the aforesaid pronouncements, the concept of forum conveniens gains signification. In Black‟s Law Dictionary, forum conveniens has been defined as follows:

"The court in which an action is most appropriately brought, considering the best interests and convenience of the parties and witnesses."

31. The concept of forum conveniens fundamentally means that it is obligatory on the part of the court to see the convenience of all the parties before it. The convenience in its ambit and sweep would include the existence of more appropriate forum, expenses involved, the law relating to the lis, verification of certain facts which are necessitous for just adjudication of the controversy and such other ancillary aspects. The balance of convenience is also to be taken note of. Be it noted, the Apex Court has clearly stated in the cases of Kusum Ingots (supra), Mosaraf Hossain Khan (supra) and Ambica Industries (supra) about the applicability of the doctrine of forum conveniens while opining that arising of a part of cause of action would entitle the High Court to entertain the writ petition as maintainable.

32. The principle of forum conveniens in its ambit and sweep encapsulates the concept that a cause of action arising within the jurisdiction of the Court would not itself constitute to be the determining factor compelling the Court to entertain the matter. While exercising jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, the Court cannot be totally oblivious of the concept of forum conveniens. The Full Bench in New India Assurance Co. Ltd. (supra) has not kept in view the concept of forum conveniens and has expressed the view that if the appellate authority who has passed the order is situated in Delhi, then the Delhi High Court should be treated as the forum conveniens. We are unable to subscribe to the said view.

33. In view of the aforesaid analysis, we are inclined to modify the findings and conclusions of the Full Bench in New India Assurance Company Limited (supra) and proceed to state our conclusions in seriatim as follows:

(a) The finding recorded by the Full Bench that the sole cause of action emerges at the place or location where the tribunal/appellate authority/revisional authority is situate and the said High Court (i.e., Delhi High Court) cannot decline to entertain the writ petition as that would

amount to failure of the duty of the Court cannot be accepted inasmuch as such a finding is totally based on the situs of the tribunal/appellate authority/revisional authority totally ignoring the concept of forum conveniens.

(b) Even if a miniscule part of cause of action arises within the jurisdiction of this court, a writ petition would be maintainable before this Court, however, the cause of action has to be understood as per the ratio laid down in the case of Alchemist Ltd. (supra).

(c) An order of the appellate authority constitutes a part of cause of action to make the writ petition maintainable in the High Court within whose jurisdiction the appellate authority is situated. Yet, the same may not be the singular factor to compel the High Court to decide the matter on merits. The High Court may refuse to exercise its discretionary jurisdiction by invoking the doctrine of forum conveniens.

(d) The conclusion that where the appellate or revisional authority is located constitutes the place of forum conveniens as stated in absolute terms by the Full Bench is not correct as it will vary from case to case and depend upon the lis in question.

(e) The finding that the court may refuse to exercise jurisdiction under Article 226 if only the jurisdiction is invoked in a mala fide manner is too restricted / constricted as the exercise of power under Article 226 being discretionary cannot be limited or restricted to the ground of mala fide alone.

(f) While entertaining a writ petition, the doctrine of forum conveniens and the nature of cause of action are required to be scrutinized by the High Court depending upon the factual matrix of each case in view of what has been stated in Ambica Industries (supra) and Adani Exports Ltd. (supra).

(g) The conclusion of the earlier decision of the Full Bench in New India Assurance Company Limited (supra) "that since the original order merges into the appellate

order, the place where the appellate authority is located is also forum conveniens" is not correct.

(h) Any decision of this Court contrary to the conclusions enumerated hereinabove stands overruled.

34. Ex consequenti, we answer the reference by partially overruling and clarifying the decision in New India Assurance Company Limited (supra) in the above terms. Matters be listed before the appropriate Division Bench for appropriate consideration."

11. It hardly needs any elaboration that once we apply the

parameters laid down in the aforesaid judgment to the

facts of this case, the obvious conclusion shall be that

merely because the Tribunal being Appellate Authority

decides the appeal would not be a reason to confer the

territorial jurisdiction on this Court. It has been

categorically held that place or location where the

tribunal/appellate authority/revisional authority is situate

would not be a very material as situs of the

tribunal/appellate authority/revisional authority totally

ignoring the concept of forum conveniens.

12. Further, in order to confer jurisdiction on a Court, one has

to see whether cause of action, even if it is miniscule part

of cause of action arises to the jurisdiction of this Court or

not. However, the cause of action has to be understood

as per the ratio laid down in the case of Alchemist Ltd.

(supra). Though order of the Appellate Authority may

constitute a cause of action, to make the revision

maintainable in the High Court within whose jurisdiction

the appellate authority is situated, yet the High Court, in a

given case, may refuse its jurisdiction by invoking the

doctrine of forum conveniens. Therefore, while

entertaining a writ petition of the doctrine of forum

conveniens and the nature of cause of action is required

to be scrutinized by the High Court.

13. When the cause of action is to be understood in the

manner described in Alchemist Ltd. (supra), which would

mean that situs of the Tribunal would not be a part of

cause of action and further that it is to be seen along with

forum non conveniens, this Court would refuse to

entertain the matter. The subtle distinction which learned

counsel for the appellant tries to make was that the

present proceedings were not in the nature of writ petition

filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, but

were the statutory appeals provided under Section 35G of

the Act and therefore, for the purpose of ascertaining as

to whether this Court has the jurisdiction or not, provision

of Section 35G of the Act and related provisions should be

kept in mind. Elaborating the submission, learned counsel

drew out attention to sub-Section (9) of Section 35G,

which makes provisions of Section 100 of the Code of Civil

Procedure applicable. Precise language of this provision is

as under:

"Section 35G. Appeal to High Court. -

(9) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), relating to appeals to the High Court shall, as far as may be, apply in the case of appeals under this section. "

14. Learned counsel, thus, submitted that since provisions of

Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure were applicable

to such appeals, it was necessary to fall back on that

provision to ascertain whether High Court of Delhi will

have jurisdiction or not. For this purpose, he emphasized

upon the provisions of sub-Section (1) of Section 100,

which makes the following reading:

"Section 100. Second Appeal. - (1) Save as otherwise expressly provided in the body of this Code or by any other law for the time being in force, an appeal shall lie to the High Court from every decree passed in appeal by any Court subordinate to the High Court, if the High Court is satisfied that the case involves a substantial question of law."

15. His submission that as per the said Section, appeal can lie

to the High Court from the order passed in appeal by "any

court subordinate to the High Court". According to him,

since the Tribunal was subordinate to this Court and had

superintending jurisdiction over the said Tribunal under

Article 227 of the Constitution of India, this Court was

competent to hear the present appeals. To buttress his

submission, the learned counsel for the appellant placed

reliance upon the following discussion contained in the

judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Ladli

Parshad Jaiswal Vs. The Karnal Distillery Co., Ltd.

and Others [AIR 1963 SC 1279]:

"...A court subordinate to the High Court is a court subject to the superintendence of the High Court, whereas a court immediately below is the court from whose decision the appeal has been filed."

16. He also relied upon the judgment of the Apex Court in the

case of M. Janardhana Rao Vs. Joint Commissioner of

Income Tax [2005) 2 SCC 324] in the following terms:

"10. Some of the provisions of Section 260-A are in pari material with various sub-sections of Section 100 CPC. The provisions are Sections 260-A(1), 260-A(2) (c) , 260-A(3), 260-A(4) of the Act corresponding to Sections 100(1), 100(3), 100(4) and 100(5) CPC."

17. Answer to the aforesaid arguments has already been

provided by this Court as well as the Supreme Court. We

may first refer to the judgment of the Supreme Court, in

this behalf, i.e., Ambica Industries Vs. Commissioner

of Central Excise, [2007 (213) ELT 323 (SC)]. That was

a case directly concerning with the appeal under Section

35G of the Act and the doctrine of cause of action was

elaborately explained with reference to the aforesaid

provision. In that case also, the appellant was assessed

at Lucknow and order of show cause notice was passed at

Lucknow by the Adjudicating Authority. The matter

ultimately came up before the Tribunal in New Delhi, as

the Tribunal at New Delhi exercised jurisdiction in respect

of cases arising within the territorial limit of the State of

Uttar Pradesh, NCT of Delhi and State of Maharashtra, etc.

Against the order of the Tribunal, appeal was filed in this

Court, which was dismissed for want of territorial

jurisdiction following the earlier Division Bench judgment

in the case of Bombay Snuff P. Ltd. Vs. Union of India

(UOI) and Ors. [2006 (194) ELT 264 (Del.)]. Against

the order of this court, dismissing the appeal of the

appellant, thereby affirming the order of this Court, the

Supreme Court held that situs of Tribunal was not

determinative factor for High Court to its territorial

jurisdiction. The Court took note of the fact that situs of

the Tribunal may vary from time to time, as the Tribunal

was exercising jurisdiction over more than one State. In

such a case, if the jurisdiction is confirmed merely

because the Tribunal decided the appeal, it would lead to

disastrous result and therefore, doctrine of cause of action

would not be invoked in a case of this nature. It would be

of interest to note that the argument of the appellant in

the said appeal, predicated on the Constitution Bench

judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Nasiruddin

Vs. S.T.A. Tribunal [AIR 1976 SC 331] was that the

decision of the Tribunal provides cause of action and

therefore, when decision was rendered by the Tribunal in

Delhi, High Court of Delhi will have the jurisdiction holding

that in case of appeal under Section 35G of the Act, this

plea of cause of action would not be determinative, the

Court explained the same in the following terms:

"12. The said decision proceeded on the basis that part of the cause of action may arise at the forum

where the appellate order or the revisional order is sourced. If, thus, a cause of action arises within one or the other High Court, the petitioner shall be the dominus litis. Indisputably, if this set of reasoning is to be accepted, the impugned judgment as also the decision rendered in Bombay Snuff (supra) would not be correct. Before dilating on the said proposition of law it may be noticed that the decision of a Tribunal would be binding on the Assessing Authority. If the situs of the appellate Tribunal should be considered to be the determinative factor, a decision rendered by the Tribunal shall be binding on all the authorities exercising its jurisdiction under the said Tribunal.

13. The Tribunal, as noticed hereinbefore, exercises jurisdiction over all the three States. In all the three States there are High Courts. In the event, the aggrieved person is treated to be the dominus litus, as a result whereof, he elects to file the appeal before one or the other High Court, the decision of the High Court shall be binding only on the authorities which are within its jurisdiction. It will only be of persuasive value on the authorities functioning under a different jurisdiction. If the binding authority of a High Court does not extend beyond its territorial jurisdiction and the decision of one High Court would not be a binding precedent for other High Courts or Courts or Tribunals outside its territorial jurisdiction, some sort of judicial anarchy shall come into play. An assessee, affected by an order of assessment made at Bombay, may invoke the jurisdiction of the Allahabad High Court to take advantage of the law laid down by it and which might suit him and thus he would be able to successfully evade the law laid down by the High Court at Bombay.

14. Furthermore, when an appeal is provided under a statute, Parliament must have thought of one High Court. It is a different matter that by way of necessity, a Tribunal may have to exercise jurisdiction over several States but it does not appeal to any reason that Parliament intended, despite providing for an appeal before the High Court, that appeals may be filed before different High Courts at

the sweet will of the party aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal.

15. In a case of this nature, therefore, the cause of action doctrine may not be invoked."

18. Thereafter in Para 16 of the judgment, the Supreme Court

noted identical argument of the counsel for the appellant,

which is advanced before us, based on sub-Section (9) of

Section 35G of the Act and on that basis, relied upon sub-

Section (1) of Section 100 of the CPC. The Court

proceeded to repel this contention in the following words:

"17. There cannot be any doubt whatsoever that in terms of Article 227 of the Constitution of India as also Clause (2) of Article 226 thereof, the High Court would exercise its discretionary jurisdiction as also power to issue writ of certiorari in respect of the orders passed by the Subordinate Courts within its territorial jurisdiction or if any cause of action has arisen therewithin but the same tests cannot be applied when the appellate court exercises a jurisdiction over Tribunal situated in more than one State. In such a situation, in our opinion, the High Court situated in the State where the first court is located should be considered to be the appropriate appellate authority. Code of Civil Procedure did not contemplate such a situation. It provides for jurisdiction of each court. Even a District Judge must exercise its jurisdiction only within the territorial limits of a State. It is inconceivable under the Code of Civil Procedure that the jurisdiction of the District Court would be exercisable beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the District, save and except in such matters where the law specifically provides therefor.

18. The submission of Mr. C. Hari Shankar, learned counsel, as noticed hereinbefore, is inconsistent and contradictory. The doctrine of dominus litus or

doctrine of situs of the Appellate Tribunal do not go together. Dominus litus indicates that the suitor has more than one option, whereas the situs of an Appellate Tribunal refers to only one High Court wherein the appeal can be preferred. We may consider two hypothetical cases in order to enable us to find out an answer. A Tribunal may hear out a matter either at Allahabad or at Bombay and pass a judgment at that place. Only because the head office is situated at Delhi, would it mean that a judgment delivered at Allahabad or at Bombay would not attain its finality then and there.

19. We may notice some incongruities if the contention of the appellant is taken to its logical conclusion. It is possible that in a case of emergency while the Tribunal holding its sitting at Allahabad or Bombay may entertain a matter where the cause of action had arisen at Delhi. But that would not mean that when the Tribunal pronounces its judgment at Allahabad or Bombay, although the cause of action had initially arisen at Delhi, the Delhi High Court would have no jurisdiction in relation thereto.

20. The situs of a Tribunal may vary from time to time. It could be Delhi or some other place. Whether its jurisdiction would be extending to 3 States or more or less would depend upon the Executive order which may be issued. Determination of the jurisdiction of a High Court on the touchstone of Sections 35G and 35H of the Act, in our opinion, should be considered only on the basis of statutory provisions and not anything else. While defining High Court in terms of Section 36B of the Act, the Parliament never, in our opinion, contemplated to have a situation of this nature.

21. An appeal may have to be filed by the Commissioner of Central Excise. His office may be located in a different State. If he has to prefer an appeal before the High Court, he would be put to a great inconvenience whereas, the assessee would not be."

19. The Apex Court was, therefore, of the opinion that in such

a case, situs doctrine will have to be given a go by.

Following discussion in the said judgment in this behalf,

also needs to be extracted Para 37 and 38:

"37. However, we are not oblivious of another line of authority where the situs of the Tribunal was held to be the basis for determination of the jurisdiction of the High Court. In the said decisions, however, the contentions which have been raised before us did not arise for consideration.

38. We have noticed hereinbefore that if the decision of the High Court in the aforementioned question is taken to its logical conclusion, the same would lead to a great anomaly. It would also give rise to the problem of forum shopping. We may notice some examples to show that the determination of the appellate forum based upon the situs of the Tribunal would lead to an anomalous result. For example, 'an assessee affected by an assessment order in Bombay may invoke the jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court to take advantage of the law laid down by it which may be contrary to judgments of the High Court of Bombay. This cannot be allowed. [See Suresh Desai and Associates V. CIT 1998 (230) ITR 912 at 915- 917 and CCE V. M/s. Technological Institute of Textile in 76 (1998) DLT 862 (DB]."

20. This judgment, thus, amply demonstrates that the view

taken in M/s. Sterling Agro Industries Ltd. (supra),

though in the context of Article 226 of the Constitution of

India, can be applied to the statutory appeal under

Section 35G of the Act as well.

21. Though there are many judgments of this Court

dismissing appeals for want of territorial jurisdiction in

identical circumstances, our purpose would be served by

referring to the case of Vrindavan Beverages Pvt. Ltd.

Vs. CCE, Meerut [2010 (20) S.T.R. 283 (Del.)]. This

Court relied upon Ambica Industries (supra) and

discussed the issue in the following manner:

"6. This question has now been authoritatively settled by the Supreme Court in Ambica Industries - vs- Commissioner of Central Excise, (2007) 6 SCC 769 where several of the above quoted decisions have been reviewed. The Petitioner/Assessee in that case carried on business at Lucknow where it was also assessed. It approached the CESTAT, New Delhi

jurisdiction in respect of the States of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Appeal filed in the Delhi High Court was rejected on the ground of lack of territoriality, and the Appeal to the Supreme Court turned out to be a sterile exercise. Their Lordships observed that "the aggrieved person is treated to be the dominus litis, as a result whereof, he elects to file the appeal before one or the other High Court, the decision of the High Court shall be binding only on the authorities which are within its jurisdiction. It will only be of persuasive value on the authorities functioning under a different jurisdiction. If the binding authority of a High Court does not extend beyond its territorial jurisdiction and the decision of one High Court would not be a binding precedent for other High Courts or courts or tribunals outside its territorial jurisdiction, some sort of judicial anarchy shall come into play. An assessee, affected by an order of assessment made at Bombay, may invoke the jurisdiction of the Allahabad High Court to take advantage of the law laid down by it and which

might suit him and thus he would be able to successfully evade the law laid down by the High Court at Bombay. ... It would give rise to the issue of forum shopping. ....For example, an assessee affected by an assessment order in Bombay may invoke the jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court to take advantage of the law laid down by it which may be contrary to the judgments of the High Court of Bombay".

7. Learned counsel for the Petitioner has relied heavily on the pronouncements in Canon Steels P. Ltd. -vs- Commr. of Customs (Export Promotion), 2007 (218) ELT 161(SC). Significantly, Ambica Industries was not cited or considered even though it was an earlier decision of a Coordinate Bench. Even more significant is the fact that Canon is irreconcilable with the view of the same learned Judge in Commr. of Central Excise, Delhi-III -vs- Enkay HWS India Ltd., 2002(139) ELT 21(Del) where it had been held that the site of the Commissionerate or Appellate Authority does not determine jurisdiction. It appears evident to us that what prevailed on his Lordship, Dr. Arijit Pasayat in Canon, was the fact that a writ petition had been filed and withdrawn in the High Court of Delhi, to be later filed in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana which also was found not to have jurisdiction. In order to effect substantial justice, their Lordships directed that the writ petition should be heard in New Delhi. What is interesting to note is the fact that the question that the jurisdiction would lie before the High Court of Judicature at Bombay because the cause of action and primary adjudication had taken place there, was not even broached before the Court in that matter.

8. Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the Petitioner has read copiously from the decision of the Supreme Court in S.S. Rathore -vs- State of Madhya Pradesh, (1989) 4 SCC 582 as well as Kunhayammed -vs- State of Kerala, (2000) 6 SCC 359, both of CEAC10/2008 Page 8 of 10 which deal with the doctrine of merger. This doctrine, however, will have no relevance or application to the question before us. We must assume that the order of the

Adjudicating Authority had merged with that of the CESTAT. That is not the central issue before us. The question is altogether different, that is, which is the forum where such an order can be challenged. We are not persuaded to ignore altogether the place where the cause of action had arisen and where the original adjudication had taken place which would constitute forum conveniens for all the parties concerned."

22. Following the aforesaid decision, we hold that this Court

has no territorial jurisdiction to entertain the appeals and

accepting the preliminary objection raised by the learned

counsel for the respondent/Department in this behalf.

23. We dismiss these appeals.

(A.K. SIKRI) JUDGE

(M.L. MEHTA) JUDGE AUGUST 12, 2011 pmc