The main legal point established in the judgment is that in the context of beneficial legislation such as the Amnesty Scheme, procedural formalities need not be strictly complied with if the eligibility conditions are met and no substantial prejudice is caused to the revenue.

JUDGMENT

Jaswant Singh, J. - By this common order, the instant two writ petitions bearing CWP Nos. 8350 & 8755 of 2020, involving identical issue(s), are disposed of. The petitioners through instant petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India are seeking quashing of orders dated 24.02.2020 (Annexure P-19 in CWP No. 8350 of 2020) and order dated 15.01.2020 (Annexure P-18 in CWP No. 8755 of 2020) whereby the declarations filed by the petitioner(s) under Amnesty Scheme have been rejected by Designated Committee.

2. For the sake of convenience, the facts are borrowed from CWP No. 8350 of 2020. The respondent on the same set of allegations though for different periods issued four show cause notices raising demand of service tax which came to be decided by common Order-in-Original No. 25- 28/COMMR/PKL/RS/2018 dated 18.04.2018 (Annexure P-7). The respondent dropped partial demand, however confirmed demand of remaining amount of tax alongwith interest and further imposed penalty. The respondent issued 5 th Show Cause Notice dated 27.12.2018 (Annexure P-6) for the period October, 2016 to June, 2017. The petitioner preferred single appeal against common Order-in-Original dated 18.04.2018 (P-7) before Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chandigarh (for short 'Tribunal'). During the pendency of appeal before the Tribunal, the petitioner deposited entire amount of service tax as confirmed by aforesaid Order-in-Original. The respondent filed cross appeal against same Order-inOriginal whereby partial demand was confirmed.

3. For the liquidation of pending disputes and realize outstanding tax/arrears, the respondent through Finance Act, 2019 introduced Amnesty Scheme known as Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019. The petitioner filed two applications under Amnesty Scheme seeking waiver of interest and penalty because 100% amount of tax stood already paid. One application dated 24.12.2019 was filed with respect to appeal pending before Tribunal and another dated 24.12.2019 for 5 th pending Show Cause Notice dated 06.03.2019.

4. The Designated Committee constituted under Amnesty Scheme vide impugned order dated 24.02.2020 (P-19) rejected declaration filed with respect to appeal pending before Tribunal on the ground that petitioner has filed single declaration with respect to four show cause notices whereas petitioner in terms of Rule 3 (2) of SVLDR Rules, 2019 was bound to file separate application for each show cause notice. The respondent accepted declaration with respect to 5th show cause notice.

5. Counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner has rightly filed single application with respect to four show cause notices because as per Rule 6A of CESTAT (Procedure) Rules, 1982 single appeal is maintainable irrespective of number of show cause notices if common order is passed. The object of scheme is to reduce pendency of litigation and realize outstanding dues. As per scheme, a declarant is entitled to waiver of tax which may extend to 70% if amount of tax/duty is Rs. 50 Lakh or less. If a declarant files multiple declarations with respect to multiple show cause notices or appeals, he is entitled to immunity of 70% of tax if the amount involved is upto Rs. 50 Lakh whereas entitlement of immunity comes to 50% if amount involved is more than Rs. 50 Lakh. In this way, in case of filing of single application for more than one show cause notices, there are all possibilities of amount involved being increased to more than Rs. 50 Lakh, thus a declarant is not beneficiary in filing single application instead of multiple. In CWP No. 8755 of 2020, the petitioner has claimed that amount of tax involved in one show cause notice was less than Rs. 50 lakh, thus they would have got waiver of 70% instead of 50% had they filed separate application. The object of scheme is to reduce litigation and realize outstanding dues, thus Amnesty Scheme is not a piece of taxation legislation whereas it is a piece of be