Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
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e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Re-classification of product Central Excise Tariff Act |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Dismissed |
Headnote | Central Excise Act, 1944-Section 11 A-Central Excise Rules, 1944- Rules 56, 173 B and 173 Q--Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985-Chapter Subheading 3 906.90 : Re-classification of products-Power of the adjudicating authority-Assessee submitting technical opinions of Professors in support of its plea for re-classification-Adjudicating authority, without intimating the assessee, forwarding the opinions to Dy. Chief Chemist of the Department for his opinion-Held : The allegation that the adjudicating authority forwarded the technical opinions to the Dy. Chief Chemist behind the back of the assessee is not tenable-The adjudicating authority has power to make such enquiries as necessary for adjudicating the given case. Re-classification of product-On request of the adjudicating authority, Dy. Chief Chemist of the Department submitting test report on assessee 's products -Non-supply of the report to assessee-Held : Did not amount to violation of the principles of natural justice or of R. 56 as alleged, since the adjudicating,authority while holding against the assessee by disallowing reclassification, did not rely on the said test report. Reclassification of products-Department discharged its onus to show that the acrylic polymers manufactured by assessee were acrylic polymer resin in primary form falling under SI. No. 42 of the Schedule to the Notification No. 53/88-They cannot be re-classified as emulsions falling under Sr. No. 9 of the Schedule to the said Notification-Tribunal was right in rejecting the technical opinions submitted by assessee in support of its plea for reclassification. Appellant-assessee is a small scale unit engaged in manufacture of various grades of acrylic polymers. It filed classification lists classifying the aforesaid products as acrylic polymers in primary form under Chapter sub-heading 3906.90 claiming concessional rate of duty@ 40% ad valorem in terms of SI. No. 42 of the Schedule to the Notification No. 53/88 dated 1-3-1988. But, subsequently claiming that there was a clerical error in filing the earlier classification lists, appellant filed a revised classification list seeking classification of the products as emulsions subject to rate of duty @ 20% ad valorem in terms of SI. No. 9 of the Schedule to the Notificiation No. 53/88. The revised classification list was approved by the Assistant Collector. However, subsequently a show-cause notice was issued to the appellant alleging that the revised classification list was not in accordance with the circumstances as stated in Rule 173 B (4) of the Central Excise C Rules, 1944. The show-cause notice alleged collusion between the Assistant Collector, who approved the revised classification list and the appellant ·and further proposed to demand a differential duty by invoking the extended period of limitation under proviso to Section 11 A of the Central Excise Act, 1944. A proposal was also made to confiscate the land, building, plant and machinery under Rule 173 Q (2) of the Rules. The Collector adjudicated the show-cause notice confirming the demand of differential duty and a penalty of Rs. 10 lacs. Building, land, plant and machinery were also confiscated. Tribunal dismissed the appeal, but reduced the penalty from Rs. 10 lacs to Rs. 5 lacs. Hence the present appeal. In appeal to this Court, it was inter alia contended that in support of its claim for re-classification, the appellant had produced technical opinions of Professors before the Collector; that the Collector had behind the back of the appellant forwarded those opinions to the Dy. Chief Chemist of the Department for his opinion and had also requested for test results of the appellant's products; that the action of the Department in suppressing the test results of the appellant's products is in direct breach of Rule 56 where-under the Department is bound to communicate the results of all tests to the manufacturer; that the principles of natural justice were also violated and the assessee was denied its right to fair hearing and an opportunity to rebut the Department's evidence; and that the Tribunal failed to appreciate that collusion being a serious offence, the burden of proof should have been strictly discharged by the Department, which the Department has failed to do. |
Judge | Hon'ble Dr. Justice A.R. Lakshmanan |
Neutral Citation | 2005 INSC 153 |
Petitioner | M/s. Noble Synthetics Ltd. |
Respondent | Collector Of Central Excise, Bombay |
SCR | [2005] 2 S.C.R. 1003 |
Judgement Date | 2005-03-17 |
Case Number | 7103 |
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