Telangana High Court Upholds Rejection of Excise Settlement Plea for Lack of Full and True Duty Disclosure

The Telangana High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Airan Comtrax Towers Pvt. Ltd., upholding the rejection of its settlement application on the ground that it failed to make a full and true disclosure of its duty liability. A Division Bench of Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda was dealing with a challenge to the order dated February 28, 2008 passed by the Settlement Commission. The case arose from a show cause notice dated April 4, 2005 alleging clandestine...

CESTAT Chennai Orders Refund Of Excise Duty On Revised Price Not Accepted By Buyer

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Chennai, has held that excise duty paid on a higher price claimed through supplementary invoices cannot be sustained where the buyer never accepted that price. “The contemporaneous letter dated 13.07.2015 issued by the buyer clearly establishes that the supplementary invoice was not accepted, the amount was not accounted in the books and no CENVAT credit was availed. Thus, the revised value never crystallized into a transaction...

Revenue Cannot Demand Interest On Delayed Duties Yet Deny It On Refund: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court recently held that the Revenue is bound to compensate a taxpayer for amounts wrongfully collected and retained as interest on alleged central excise duty liability arising from a customs notification, even where such amounts were recovered under an amnesty scheme. The court said, “the Revenue cannot act in contradicting ways, i.e., on one hand demanding interest from the assessee for the delay in payment of duties and on other hand refusing to pay interest on the amount...

Excise Duty Recovery During Stay On Demand Treated As 'Under Protest'; Refund Not Time-Barred: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has held that where the Department appropriates amounts during the pendency of an appeal against a Excise duty demand despite a subsisting stay order, such amounts must be treated as paid under protest, and a refund cannot be denied on the ground of limitation.The bench stated that "If the revenue is permitted to adopt such novel ways to adjust the amounts by getting over an order of stay and thereby indirectly recovering the money, it cannot be construed as a duty payable...

Himachal Pradesh High Court Quashes Distillery Licence Cancellation Over Lack Of Independent Application of Mind

The Himachal Pradesh High Court set aside the cancellation of distillery licences, holding that the decision was influenced by an unauthorised recommendation and lacked independent application of mind. It permitted fresh adjudication by the competent authority. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua was dealing with a writ petition filed by a distillery licensee (Tiloksons Brewery & Distillery) challenging cancellation of its licences in Forms D-2 and L-11 under the Himachal Pradesh Excise Act, 2011.The...

Excise Appeals To High Court On Substantial Questions Of Law Maintainable After NTT Act Struck Down: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has recently held that appeals to High Courts in central excise matters involving substantial questions of law remain maintainable after the Supreme Court struck down the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005, which had omitted the provision providing for such appeals. The court held that “The earlier provision mentioned in Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944, Section 130 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) as well as any other provisions of law which were omitted by...

Meghalaya High Court Strikes Down Excise Notification Cutting Liquor Retailers' Profit Margin From 20% to 15%

The Meghalaya High Court on Thursday struck down a state excise notification that reduced the maximum profit margin for liquor retailers from 20% to 15%, holding that the move unfairly burdened retailers while leaving other stakeholders unaffected, making it arbitrary and violative of Article 14.The court noted that while retailers' margins were reduced, other stakeholders such as Central Bonded Warehouses and Bonded Warehouses continued at existing margins. A coram comprising...

Rebate Cannot Be Denied On Procedural Lapses If Export Duty Payments Are Undisputed: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 20 February, held that a rebate of central excise duty on exported goods cannot be denied merely due to procedural lapses, such as non-submission of original ARE-1 documents, when the fact of export and payment of duty is otherwise established through supporting records. A Division Bench of Justice A. S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi allowed the writ petition filed by Ashland India Private Limited, setting aside orders that had rejected the company's rebate claim...

Madras High Court Upholds Notification Applying Excise Act Recovery Provision To Clean Environment Cess

The Madras High Court has upheld a Central Government notification applying provisions of the Central Excise Act, including those governing recovery of duties not levied or short-paid, to Clean Environment Cess. A Division Bench of Justice G. R. Swaminathan and Justice R. Kalaimathi held that the expression “levy” in the Finance Act, 2010 includes the processes of assessment and collection, allowing the government to extend recovery provisions of the Central Excise Act to the cess through...

Denial Of Cross-Examination Justified Under Excise Act When Statements Are Corroborated: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the right of cross-examination under Section 9D of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is not absolute, and may be lawfully denied in fact-specific circumstances, particularly where the witnesses are closely connected to the assessee and the allegations are supported by independent corroborative evidence.A Division Bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul thus dismissed the appeal filed by an assessee, holding that neither the adjudicating authority nor...

Allahabad High Court Grants Interim Relief To Tobacco Factory Owners Against CCTV Rule Enforcement

The Allahabad High Court on 4 February granted interim relief to owners of tobacco factories by protecting them against coercive measures for non-compliance with the mandate to install CCTV cameras in the premises of factories manufacturing tobacco, gutka, pan masala, and other commodities specified under the Chewing Tobacco, Jarda Scented Tobacco and Gutkha Packing Machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2026 (The Rules).The Bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and...

Bombay High Court Upholds CESTAT Relief To KEC International In ₹4.42 Crore Excise Matter

The Bombay High Court on 4 February dismissed a Central Excise Appeal filed by the Revenue against KEC International Ltd., holding that no substantial question of law arose from the order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) granting exemption benefits to the assessee. A Division Bench of Justice B. P. Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla, while hearing the appeal, held that the Tribunal had examined the material on record and concluded that there was...