Filing of Appeal before CESTAT Forms
Part-IV
1. Introduction:
1.1 In this e-book, various forms specified for filing appeals by the party or the Department or filing memorandum of Cross objections before Tribunal under the relevant sections of Customs Act, 1962, Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Finance Act, 1994 have been given
1.2 The CBEC has significantly amended/ revised the forms for filing appeals in the CESTAT w.e.f. 01.06.2013. New forms for Central Excise (E.A.-3, E.A.-4, E.A.-5), Customs (C.A.-3, C.A.-4, C.A.-5) and Service Tax (S.T.-5, S.T.-6, S.T.-7) have been notified vide Notification Nos. 6/2013-CE (N.T.), 37/2013-Customs (N.T.) and 5/2013-ST respectively, all dated 10.04.2013.
1.3 The CBEC issued Circular No. 969/03/2013-CX, dated 11.04.2013 explaining salient features in the amended forms as well as other changes. Vide Circular No. 991/15/2014-CX dated 17.12.2014, CBEC has prescribed the new 22 digit alpha-numeric codes for all the Commissionerates all over India.
1.4 Salient features of the changes introduced in the new appeal forms are as under-
1.4.1 Earlier, appeal against the orders passed by Commissioner (Appeals) under sub-section (2) of Section 35 B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and sub-section (2) of Section 129A of the Customs Act, 1962 was being filed in E.A. -3 and C.A.-3 forms respectively by the department. These forms were also used for filing appeals by the party. Similarly, E.A.-5 and C.A.-5 forms were being used for filing departmental applications against Order-inOriginal of Commissioner on the strength of order of the Committee of Chief Commissioner under sub-section (1) of Section 35E of the CEA, 1944 and sub-section (1) of Section 129D of the Customs Act, 1962. While in the Service tax matter, appeals are filed under Section 86 (2) and Section 86 (2A) of the Finance Act, 1994 against orders passed by the Commissioner and Commissioner (Appeals) respectively in a single form S.T. -7. Therefore, to align the forms for filing appeals with that of Service Tax, in the new appeal forms, the appeal against order passed by Commissioner (Appeals) in Central Excise and Customs matter are to be filed in the new E.A.-5 and C.A. -5 forms along with appeal against orders passed by the Commissioner.
1.4.2 Separate fields have been provided in the new forms seeking details of Assessee Code (PAN based registration number), Location Code (Commissionerate /Division/ Range identifier), PAN or UID where PAN is not available. Apart from this, field for e-mail address, telephone number and fax number of the assesse has also been added n the new forms. These new fields are intended to facilitate quick communication between the Tribunal Registry and the Appellant and would help in identifying the location code of the assessee in case of shifting of the unit or re-organization of the jurisdiction under which the unit existed earlier. In such cases, the Tribunal Registry was not able to reach to the assessee for service of notices and delivery of orders. Location Codes are available on websites http://cbec.nsdl.com and www.aces.gov.in
1.4.3 In appeal forms for Customs, IEC (Importer Exporter Code) is required to be furnished mandatorily by the Appellant along with the Port Code so as to identify the Port from which the import or export has taken place. These Port Codes are available on ICEGATE.
1.4.4 In Service Tax forms, a separate field for Premises Code has been introduced for identification of the jurisdictional Commissionerate/ Division / Range.
1.4.5 Now, PAN is required to be furnished by the Appellants. In case where PAN is not available and the Appellant is having UID, the same is required to be furnished. This would help in identification / location of persons who are not registered with the Department but are charged with penalty etc.
1.4.6 Separate entries have been provided in the revised form for demand of duty, fine, penalty and interest.
1.4.7 In order to facilitate bunching of identical issues, separate entry has been provided with subject codes. The Appellant is required to tick mark the subject in dispute. For example, in a Customs Appeal, Sl. No.16 requires the appellant to choose from the list given under three separate heads of “Import”, or “Export”, or “General” depending upon the nature of the case.
Introduction of New Alpha-Numeric Number
1.5 CBEC has introduced a 22 string alpha-numeric number, which is required to be filled in for the orders passed by the Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeal) or Commissioner (Adjudication). All Commissionerates have been assigned pre-figured series number.
1.6 The 22 digits of an alpha-numeric series refer to the following information:-
AAA-BBBBB -CCC – DDD – EEEE- FF-GG- Date- II-JJ-KKKK
1st – 11 digits- Uniquely identify the Commissionerate of the adjudicating authority
12th-14 digits- Identify nature of adjudicating authority [whether commissioner or commissioner appeal or Commissioner ( Adjudication)]
15th-18th digits- Identify the serial number of the order passed by that adjudicating authority
19th- 22nd digits- Identify Financial year in which Order has been issued
23nd- 30st digits- Date of issuance of order in DD/MM/YYYY format
1.7 Explanation of Alpha-Numeric Coding systems for adjudication order are given in Table-I below:-
Table-I
| Ref Code | Code Alpha / Numeric | What does code indicate | Explanation |
| AAA | Alpha | Indicate the name of the City where Commissionerate office of The Adjudicating authority is located | For example:- AHM refers to Ahmedabad |
| BBBBB | Alpha | Indicate nature of the CommissionerFor example: ‘CUSTM‘ for exclusive Customs Commissionerates, ‘EXCUS‘ for combined Commissionerates of Excise, Service Tax & Customs, ‘SVTAX‘ for exclusive Service ‘LTUNT‘ for LTU Commissionerates. | This part of the code is for the Commissionerate, and NOT for the subject matter of the impugned order. Thus, even if the impugned order passed by (or relating to), say, a Central Excise Commissionerate relates to Customs or Service Tax matters, the second part of the code would still read as EXCUS.This is required for the purpose of Commissionerate – wise indexing of appeals. |
| CCC | Numeric/ Alpha as the case may be | Denote the specific Commissionerate where the first eight strings are not sufficient to identify the Commissionerate. | In cases where the first two parts suffice to identify the Commissionerate, this third part will simply be three zeroes, i.e. “000´In respect of places having more than one Central Excise Commissionerates, the third part will be 001, 002, 003 and so on. In respect of Commissioner (Adj), this part will be ‘ADJ’. In respect of Customs (Preventive) Commissionerates, the third part will be PRV. In respect of Customs Commissionerates in Chennai/Delhi/Mumbai, the codes given in the third part suitably capture the nature of the Commissionerate. For example; SXP: Sea ( Export) For example, CHN-CUSTM-SXP refers to Chennai Customs Sea (Export) Commissionerate (the ‘S’ in the 3rd part is for Sea and the XP is for Export). Similarly, in the code DLI-CUSTM-AGN for the Delhi [Airport, ACC (Import) and (General) Commissionerate], the third part AGN means ‘A’ for Airport and ‘GN’ for General. |
| DDD | Alpha | Denote the officer who is adjudicating the case. | COM: for Order in Original passed by the Commissioner.APP: for order in appeal passed by the Commissioner (Appeal) ADJ: for order in original passed by the Commissioner (Adjudication) |
| EEEE | Numeric | Denote Serial number of the order to be assigned by the office of the Commissioner who is passing the order. | |
| FF | Numeric | Indicate financial year.For example, For financial year 16-17, FF will be 16 and GG will be 17. | |
| GG | Numeric | ||
| Date | |||
| II | numeric | Day | Last eight digits denote the date of passing of order in DD/MM/YYYY format. |
| JJ | Numeric | Month | |
| KKKK | Numeric | Year | |
To illustrate:-
The code “AHM-CUSTM-000-COM-034-15-16 DT 02-09-2015” would mean Order-in- Original No.34 for the year 15-16 passed by Commissioner of Customs, Ahmadabad on 02/09/2015.”
Similarly, the code “AHM-CUSTM-000-APP-034-15-16 DT 02-09-2015” would mean Order in- Appeal No. 34 for the year 15-16 passed by Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), Ahmadabad on 02/09/2015.”
1.8 The revised forms prescribed for filing Appeal/Memorandum of Cross Objection by the aggrieved Party/Department before CESTAT are given in Table-II below:-
Table-II
| Sr. No. | Form | Purpose | Relevant Rule |
| Under Customs Act, 1992 | |||
| 1. | C.A. 3 | Form for filing appeal before Tribunal by the party. | Rule 6 of the Customs (Appeals) Rules, 1982 |
| 2. | C.A. 4 | Form for filing Memorandum of Cross Objections before Tribunal | Rule 6 of the Customs (Appeals) Rules, 1982 |
| 3. | C.A. 5 | Form for filing appeal before Tribunal by the Department | Rule 7 of Customs (Appeals) Rules, 1982 |
| Under Central Excise Act, 1944 | |||
| 4. | E.A. 3 | Form for filing appeal before Tribunal by the Party. | Rule 6 of Central Excise (Appeals) Rules, 2001 |
| 5. | E.A 4 | Form for filing Memorandum of Cross Objections before Tribunal. | Rule 6 of Central Excise (Appeals) Rules, 2001 |
| 6. | E.A 5 | Form for filing appeal before Tribunal by the Department | Rule 7 of Central Excise (Appeals) Rules, 2001 |
| Under Finance Act, 1994 ( in respect of Service Tax matters) | |||
| 7. | ST.-5 | Form for filing appeals before Tribunal by the party. | Rule 9 of STR, 1994 |
| 8. | S.T.-6 | Form for filing Memorandum of Cross Objections before Tribunal | Rule 9 of STR, 1994 |
| 9. | S.T. 7 | Form for filing appeal before Tribunal by the Department | Rule 9(2) & 9(2A) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 |
| Important Circulars | |||
| 10. | CBEC Circular No. 969/03/2013-CX, dated 11.04.2013 | ||
| 11. | CBEC Circular No. 991/15/2014-CX, dated 17.12.2014 regarding new alpha numeric codes for various Commissionerates. | ||
2. FORMS (2.1 to 2.9)
A. UNDER CUSTOMS ACT
FORM C.A. 3– Form of Appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (1) of section 129A of Customs Act, 1962.
FORM C.A. 4 – Form of Memorandum of Cross Objections to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (4) of
section 129A of the Customs Act, 1962.
FORM C.A. 5- Form of Appeal or Application to Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2) section 129A or
sub-section (4) of section 129D of the Customs Act, 1962.
B. UNDER CENTRAL EXCISE ACT, 1944
FORM E.A. 3- Form of Appeal to Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (1) of section 35B of the Act
FORM E.A. 4- Form of Memorandum of Cross-Objections to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (4) of section 35B of the Act.
FORM E.A. 5- Form of appeal or application to Appellate Tribunal under sub- section (2) of section 35B or under sub-section (1) of section 35E of the Act.
C. UNDER FINANCE ACT, 1994
FORM S.T. 5 –Form of Appeal to Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (1) of section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994
FORM S.T. 6- Form of Memorandum of Cross-Objections to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (4) of section 86 of Finance Act, 1994
FORM S.T. 7 – Form of Appeal to Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2) of section 86 or sub-section (2A) of section 86 of the Finance Act, 1994.
2.10 Text of CBEC Circular No. 969/03/2013-CX, dated 11.04.2013
2.11: Text of CBEC Circular No. 991/15/2014-CX, dated 17.12.2014
2.12 Revised Pre-figured Alpha Numeric Numbers [as per Board’s Circular dated 17.12.2014]
(Source-National Academy of Customs Excise and Narcotics Regional Training Institute, Kanpur (India)- Prepared with the assistance of Shri Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Superintendent, Commissionerate of Central Excise, Lucknow)