CBEC GIVEN POWERS TO APPOINT STANDING COUNSELS

In a move that may help fast-track Government response to indirect tax litigations, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has now been given powers to appoint standing counsels to handle litigation of indirect taxes before various High Courts.Hitherto, the standing counsels’ appointments were decided by the Law Ministry. Now, the CBEC can directly appoint standing counsels.“This move would cut the delays seen earlier in the appointments. We can directly choose the standing counsel and not go through Law Ministry,” a CBEC official said. The CBEC has now issued new guidelines on the mechanism for appointment of counsels and their terms and conditions of engagement.

Excise collections

While customs duty collections have been robust, excise duty collections have been somewhat sluggish so far during the current fiscal. The Centre’s customs duty collections up to October this fiscal stood at Rs 57,833 crore, which represents a 17.4 per cent increase over Rs 49,276 crore collected in the same period last year.On the other hand, Central excise duty collections up to October this fiscal stood at Rs 64,948 crore, which represents a 7.5 per cent increase over Rs 60,401 crore in the same period last year – www.hindubusinessline.com