Orissa High Court
M/S. Arcelormittal Nippon Steel ... vs Principal Commissioner Goods And on 9 January, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
W.P.(C) No.9290 of 2020
M/s. ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India .... Petitioners
Ltd.
Mr. Bibekananda Mohanti, Senior Advocate
with Mr. Adhiraj Mohanty, Advocate
-versus-
Principal Commissioner Goods and .... Opposite Parties
Services Tax and Central Excise &
Another
Mr. Prasanna Kumar Panda, Senior Standing
Counsel for GST and Central Excise Department
CORAM:
THE CHIEF JUSTICE
JUSTICE M. S. RAMAN
ORDER
09.01.2023
Order No.
04. 1. Mr. Bibekananda Mohanti, Senior Advocate files a memo of
appearance on behalf of the Petitioner in Court today, which is taken
on record.
2. The challenge in the present petition is to an adjudication order
dated 10th December, 2019 passed by the Principal Commissioner,
Goods and Service Tax & Central Excise, Bhubaneswar confirming
the demand indicated in a show cause notice issued to the
predecessor-in-interest of the Petitioner i.e. M/s. Essar Steel India
Limited (ESIL) which was admittedly before the National Company
Law Tribunal (NCLT) in proceedings instituted against ESIL under
the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
3. The further admitted position is that the National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal affirmed the order dated 8th March, 2019 passed
by the NCLT approving the resolution plan filed by the present
Petitioner.
4. On the basis of the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in
Committee of Creditors of Essar Steel India Ltd. v. Satish Gupta
(2019) SCC Online SC 1478, it is contended by Mr. Mohanti,
learned Senior Counsel appearing for the Petitioner, that all
liabilities including central excise duty liability required to be paid
by the ESIL for the period prior to the approval of the resolution
plan would automatically stand extinguished. He also relies on the
judgment of the Supreme Court of India in Ghanashyam Mishra
and Sons Private Limited v. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction
Company Limited (2021) 9 SCC 657. Mr. Mohanty accordingly
prays that the matter should be remitted to the adjudicating authority
for taking into account the above developments.
5. His request is not objected to by the learned Standing Counsel for
the Department. Accordingly, while setting aside the impugned
adjudication order dated 10th December, 2019, the Court remands the
matter to the Adjudicating Authority i.e. the Principal
Commissioner, GST & Central Excise, Bhubaneswar for a fresh
adjudication in accordance with law particularly taking into account
the decisions of the Supreme Court of India in Committee of
Creditors of Essar Steel India Ltd. v. Satish Gupta (supra) and
Ghanashyam Mishra and Sons Private Limited v. Edelweiss Asset
Reconstruction Company Limited (supra). The matter will now be
listed before the aforementioned adjudicating authority on 1st March,
2023 on which date the Petitioner will appear along with a
downloaded copy of this order.
6. The writ petition is disposed of.
(Dr. S. Muralidhar)
Chief Justice
(M. S. Raman)
Judge
Aks
