Custom, Excise & Service Tax Tribunal
Topworth Steels & Power Pvt Ltd vs Raipur on 11 March, 2026
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CUSTOMS, EXCISE & SERVICE TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
NEW DELHI.
PRINCIPAL BENCH - COURT NO.III
Excise Appeal No.51667 of 2019
[Arising out of Order-in-Appeal No.BHO-EXCUS-002-APP-501-18-19 dated
14.02.2019 passed by the Commissioner (Appeals), Central Goods and
Service, Central Excise and Customs, Raipur (Chhattisgarh)]
M/s.Topworth Steels & Powers Pvt.Ltd., Appellant
(Earlier known as Topworth Steel Pvt.Ltd.),
Borai Growth Centre, Phase-I,
Rasmada,
Durg (C.G.)-496 001.
VERSUS
Commissioner of Customs & Central GST Respondent
and Excise, Central Excise Building, Dhamtari Road, Tikrapara, Raipur (C.G.)-492 001.
APPEARANCE:
Shri M.D. Arsalan Ahmed, Advocate for the appellant. Shri Anuj Kumar Neeraj, Authorised Representative for the respondent.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. BINU TAMTA, MEMBER (JUDICIAL) FINAL ORDER NO.50345/2026 Date of Hearing/Decision:11.03.2026 BINU TAMTA:
1. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the matter was referred under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and has culminated into the Final Resolution Plan dated October 11, 2023.
Learned Counsel has referred to the amount settled under the said plan towards the Government dues and has also given break-up thereof. In view of the Final Approval Plan, the present appeal abates. The decision of the Apex Court in the case of Ghanashyam Mishra & Sons Pvt. 2 Ltd. through the Authorised Signatory Vs. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. through the Director and Ors. 1 , held as under:-
"102.1. That once a resolution plan is duly approved by the adjudicating authority under sub-section (1) of Section 31, the claims as provided in the resolution plan shall stand frozen and will be binding on the corporate debtor and its employees, members, creditors, including the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority, guarantors and other stakeholders. On the date of approval of resolution plan by the adjudicating authority, all such claims, which are not a part of resolution plan, shall stand extinguished and no person will be entitled to initiate or continue any proceedings in respect to a claim, which is not part of the resolution plan.
102.2. The 2019 Amendment to Section 31 of the I&B Code is clarificatory and declaratory in nature and therefore will be effective from the date on which the I&B Code has come into effect.
102.3. Consequently all the dues including the statutory dues owed to the Central Government, any State Government or any local authority, if not part of the resolution plan, shall stand extinguished and no proceedings in respect of such dues for the period prior to the date on which the adjudicating authority grants its approval under Section 31 could be continued."
2. Referring to series of decisions in case of Amtek Auto Ltd. Vs. Commissioner of Service Tax2, the Bench has held:-
"9. The principle that emerges from the various decisions of the Apex Court and of the Tribunal is that from the date of approval of the Resolution Plan by the NCLT, the appeal filed stands abated and the CESTAT becomes functus officio in the matters relating to the appeal. We may refer to the provisions of Rule 22 of the CESTAT Procedure Rules, 1982, which is quoted herein below:-1
(2021) 9 SCC 657 2 Final Order No.50307/2026 dated 27.02.2026 3 "RULE 22. Continuance of proceedings after death or adjudication as an insolvent of a party to the appeal or application. -
Where in any proceedings the appellant or applicant or a respondent dies or is adjudicated as an insolvent or in the case of a company, is being wound up, the appeal or application shall abate, unless an application is made for continuance of such proceedings by or against the successor-in- interest, the executor, administrator, receiver, liquidator or other legal representative of the appellant or applicant or respondent, as the case may be:
Provided that every such application shall be made within a period of sixty days of the occurrence of the event:
Provided further that the Tribunal may, if it is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the application within the period so specified, allow it to be presented within such further period as it may deem fit."
Considering the above provisions, the Tribunal has already taken a view that the appeal filed stands abated w.e.f. the date of the approval of the Resolution Plan by the NCLT. In the present case, the Resolution Plan has been approved on July 25, 2018 and, therefore, the appeal stands abated."
3. Learned Counsel also submits that since the appeal has been abated, he is unable to seek refund of the pre-deposit made by the appellant at the time of filing the appeal. The said recourse is available to the appellant under the statutory provisions and he is at liberty to proceed in accordance with law.
4. The appeal is, accordingly disposed of.
[ Order dictated & pronounced in open court ] (BINU TAMTA) MEMBER (TECHNICAL) Ckp.
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