Shahnaz Ayurvedics' Products Are Ayurvedic Medicines, Not Cosmetics; CESTAT New Delhi Sets Aside Excise Duty Demand

The New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that the 18 disputed products manufactured by Shahnaz Ayurvedics are Ayurvedic Patent and Proprietary medicines and not cosmetics, and therefore the excise duty demand, interest and penalties raised by the Department cannot be sustained. The bench comprising President Justice Dilip Gupta and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao observed that the mere presence of excipients or fillers cannot take a...

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...

Supreme Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Businessman Accused Of Supplying Bottles And Caps For Spurious Liquor

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to a businessman accused of supplying plastic bottles, caps bearing government labels and cardboard boxes allegedly used for bottling spurious liquor. The Court noted that he was not initially named in the FIR and that no raid had been conducted at his place of business.A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V. Anjaria allowed the appeal filed by Manoj Kumar Mutta and set aside the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order dated December 5,...

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...

No Bar On CENVAT Credit Where Supplementary Invoice Is Not Linked To Suppression: CESTAT Kolkata

The Kolkata Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) on 13 February, allowed an appeal by Agrasen Sponge Pvt. Ltd., holding that CENVAT credit claimed on the basis of supplementary invoices issued by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. (MCL) is admissible where the additional duty arose due to an interpretational dispute and not on account of suppression or fraud. A Bench comprising Judicial Member R. Muralidhar set aside the order of the Commissioner (Appeals),...

No Excise Duty On Dolochar Generated During Sponge Iron Production: CESTAT Kolkata

The Kolkata Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that 'dolochar' generated during the manufacture of sponge iron is an inevitable waste and not a manufactured excisable product. Therefore no central excise duty is payable on its clearance. A Bench comprising Judicial Member Ashok Jindal and Technical Member K. Anpazhakan was hearing an appeal filed by Kaushal Ferro Metals (P) Ltd., challenging the confirmation of excise duty along with interest 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...

MS Frame Parts, Tanks Built To Customer Drawings Not Articles of Iron & Steel; CESTAT Ahmedabad Sets Aside Excise Duty Demand

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that MS frame parts, gland plates and MS tanks manufactured as per buyer-specific drawings for use in transformers cannot be treated as general articles of iron and steel. The Tribunal set aside the demand for differential excise duty of Rs.3.69 lakhs raised against Gayatri Engineering, along with interest and penalty.A coram of Judicial Member Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha and Technical Member...

Calcutta High Court Grants Private Companies Same Excise Fee Exemption As Public Companies For Management Changes

Holding that the State cannot create artificial distinctions between similarly placed licensees in the matter of excise fee exemptions, the Calcutta High Court has ruled that private limited companies are entitled to the same treatment as public limited companies when changes in management occur in the ordinary course of business. The Court made it clear that even though liquor trade is a regulated privilege of the State, the manner in which that privilege — or exemptions attached to it — is...

Ready Rotis Classifiable as Bread, Not Ready-To-Eat Food; CESTAT Grants Nil Excise Duty

The New Delhi Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that “Ready Roti/Halka Fulka” manufactured by Ready Roti India Pvt. Ltd. is classifiable as bread and not as packaged or instant food, and is therefore chargeable to a nil rate of excise duty. The bench of Judicial Member Ajay Sharma and Technical Member P.V. Subba Rao was dealing with an appeal against an order upholding excise duty demand, interest and penalty on the allegation that the appellant...