Sub: Clearance of pending legal charges bills of Panel Counsels

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ca TAY STHPT PAT, CT TH-V OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, NS-V

um JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSE, NHAVA SHEVA AGH LU, FTC WATS, ARIE TAL: URAN, DIST-RAIGAD, MAHARASHTRA-400 707 F. No. S/26-Misc-37 /2022-23/CLC Date: 15.05.2023

Standing Order No. 40 /2023

Sub: Clearance of pending legal charges bills of Panel Counsels-—reg.

Clearance of pending legal charges bills of Panel Counsels has been a concern for the last few years at JNCH. Before the formation of Centralized Legal Cell (CLC), all legal charges bills of Panel Counsels were dealt by the respective sections. After formation of CLC in 2018, all legal charges bills of Panel Counsels are to be processed through CLC. A bill from a Panel Counsel is sent to concerned Group/Section to which the case pertains to, for certification and verification (C & V). Thereafter, it is sent to Cash Section for payment once it is received from said Group/Section after C & V. At times, bills of Panel Counsels, sent to concerned Group/Section are not returned by the Group/Section and over the time these bills get accumulated with CLC as not paid. At present, there are approximately 200 such bills of Panel Counsels pending for payment in CLC.

ot returned by the Group/Section and over the time these bills get accumulated with CLC as not paid. At present, there are approximately 200 such bills of Panel Counsels pending for payment in CLC.

2. To overcome the delays and ensure timely payment and clearance of pending bills, the following procedure shall be followed:(i) Whenever, a new legal charges bill of a Panel Counsel is received in CLC, it would be immediately sent to concerned Group/Section for certification and verification through e- Office. The same should be returned to CLC within seven working days through the same route (e-Office) after C & V. Trial of this procedure has been going on in last few months and has yielded positive results. (11) The CLC would maintain the register of the legal charges bills received, in the following format:Date of . . No. | and | advocate Appeal | ofbill in concerned | Pillis to | group/section | Section for a section be sent | after C &V payment a GO

(iii) | An email would be sent to the Panel Counsel whenever a bill is sent for payment to Cash Section, JNCH by CLC. Assistant Commissioner, CLC would be the Nodal Officer and single point of contact with regard to pending bills of Panel Counsel.

(iv) At their end, the concerned Group/Section may consider maintaining a register of legal charges bills of Panel Counsels in the following format:-

ith regard to pending bills of Panel Counsel.

(iv) At their end, the concerned Group/Section may consider maintaining a register of legal charges bills of Panel Counsels in the following format:-

. : ayy: Date of forwarding the bill to a a a a (v) With regard to pending old legal charges bills, attempts would be made by the officers of CLC and concerned Group/Section to trace the original bills. If the same are traced in CLC or Group/Section, the same would be processed for payment as per due

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procedure. If the bills are not traceable in CLC or in concerned Group/Section, duplicate copies of the bills would be sought by CLC from the Panel Counsel along with a declaration that the counsel has not received payment towards the subject bills. Before the process for payment of such duplicate bills is initiated, details of payments made through PFMS to each Standing Counsel shall be verified from CAO, Cash Section, by deputing an officer of CLC to Cash Section, by matching all other available details in Cash Section & CLC. Also, a No Payment Certificate (NPC) would be obtained from the CAO, Cash Section and only after the above verification in PFMS and the receipt of the NPC, the duplicate bills would be processed for payment as per procedure. If the CAO, Cash Section informs that the payment against a particular bill has already been made, the same would be informed to the Panel Counsel by CLC through e-mail, and an entry would be made in a register maintained at CLC for posterity.

ent against a particular bill has already been made, the same would be informed to the Panel Counsel by CLC through e-mail, and an entry would be made in a register maintained at CLC for posterity.

3. Difficulty, if any, faced in implementation of this standing order may be brought to the notice of Additional Commissioner of Customs, CLC through email at legal.jnch@gov.in with copy to commr-nsS@gov.in.

(Sonaf Bajaj) Commissioner of Customs, NS-V, Nhava Sheva.

• To: ,

  1. PS to Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone —II, JNCH. 2. All Commissioners of Customs, Mumbai Zone-II, JNCH. 3. All ADC/JCs of Customs, Zone-II, JNCH.

  2. All DC/ACs of Customs, Zone-II, JNCH. 5. DC/EDI for uploading on JNCH website. 6. Office Copy. :

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