Rannu Devi And ANR. v. Chairman, Central Board Of Excise And ORS.

$~35 *

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+ W.P.(C) 7560/2019 RANNU DEVI AND ANR.

..... Petitioners Through:

Mr Sanjay Mani Tripathi, Advocate.

versus CHAIRMAN, CENTRAL BOARD OF EXCISE AND ORS.

..... Respondents Through:

Mr Amit Bansal and Mr Aman Rewaria, Advocates.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIBHU BAKHRU

O R D E R

% 16.07.2019 1.

The petitioners have filed the present petition, inter alia, praying that directions be issued to the respondents to grant/release full and final reward of the sum of ₹99.26 lakhs with interest as per Rules to the petitioners. 2.

It is pointed out that the Division Bench of this Court (of which the undersigned was a member) had rendered a judgment dated 27.05.2014 in W.P.(C) 12327/2009 accepting the petitioners' entitlement for a reward as informers under the relevant policy.

3.

However, at that stage, no directions were issued for disbursement of the reward as this court was informed that that the assessee had filed an appeal before the Central Excise and Service Tax Tribunal (CESTAT) against the orders passed and was contesting the proceedings initiated by the department.

4.

This Court had also noted that the interim reward had already been

granted by the department to some of its officers and had left it to the concerned authorities to exercise their discretion to pass appropriate orders regarding disbursement of interim award to the petitioners. 5.

Pursuant to the aforesaid directions, the respondents had examined the petitioner's request for an interim reward and had declined the same by an order dated 31.07.2014. A plain reading of the said order indicates that the reward was not disbursed to the petitioners because at the material time, the assessee's appeal was pending before the CESTAT. It is noticed that more than five years have since elapsed and it is expected that the assessee's appeal would have been disposed of.

6.

The grievance of the petitioners is that they are not aware of the status of the appeal, as no details have been provided. In view of the above, the respondents are directed to communicate the details of the appeal preferred by the assessee.

7.

Needless to state that if the appeal has been decided in favour of the Department of Revenue, Central Board of Excise & Customs, either in part or in whole, the respondents shall take the necessary steps for disbursal of the reward in terms of the relevant policy, as expeditiously as possible and preferably, within a period of two months from today. 8.

The petition is allowed with the aforesaid directions. VIBHU BAKHRU, J JULY 16, 2019 MK