Indian Aluminium Company Limited vs Thane Municipal Corporation on 25 September, 1991
5. I observe that a fresh legal plea can be considered on appeal as such provided appellants are able to show that they could not take the plea in question for bona fide reasons and that no new facts have to be gone into in respect of the said plea. The appellants have not given any reason as to why they could not take this plea before the learned lower authority. Appellants are a well organised set up, and at the time when the demand was raised and the proceedings were drawn before the learned lower authority they certainly would have consulted their legal officers or a Counsel and obviously took a conscious decision to pay up the amount as demanded by reversal of the Modvat credit. In fact before the learned lower authority they did not even choose to appeal for a personal hearing and all that they pleaded was for a lenient view in view of their having already complied with the demand as issued in the show cause notice. No facts regarding compliance with requirements of Chapter X as such were brought on record nor it is shown before us that in fact they satisfy the requirements of Chapter X. It will be fraught with danger from Revenue's point of view if reliance is placed on records which required contemporaneous verification for the purposes of Chapter X. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case, of Indian Aluminium Co. Ltd. v. Thane Municipal Corporation reported in 1991 (55) E.L.T. 454 (S.C.) have held that the requirement of filing a declaration though procedural if not complied with did not entitle the appellants to the rebate of the concession as regard to payment of octroi was concerned, as the authorities had no opportunity to verify the correctness or otherwise of the declaration. The Hon'ble Supreme Court further observed as under here :-