TMI Blog1996 (10) TMI 421X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ents and therefore under entry 57B of the First Schedule to the Act? Held that:- Appeals allowed and petitions dismissed. - C.A. Nos. 952-957 of 1986, S.L.P. (C) No. 3091 of 1993, 14615-14619 of 1996, - - - Dated:- 9-10-1996 - AHMADI A.M. C.J.I. AND SUJATA V. MANOHAR JJ. R.N. Keshwani, Advocate, for the petitioners in S.L.P. (C) Nos. 14615-14619 of 1996. P.S. Poti, Senior Advocate (G. Prakash, Advocate, with him) for the appellants in the civil appeals and the respondents in special leave petitions. T.L. Viswanatha Iyer, Senior Advocate (Mrs. A.K. Verma and P.D. Tyagi, Advocates for M/s. J.B. Dadacharji and Co., Advocates, with him) for the respondent in C.A. Nos. 952-957 of 1986 and the petitioners in S.L.P. (C) No. 3 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sion the High Court dismissed the petitions holding that excise duty is a duty on production or manufacture of goods which can be imposed at any convenient stage. However, the liability to pay the duty remains fixed on the manufacturer. The appointment of a licensee under the Rules operates as a contractual obligation on the licensee by which he covenants to pay the duty demandable on the goods stored in the warehouse to the Government of India. So when the petitioner paid the excise duty it merely discharged the obligation attached to the goods on production and this obligation being primarily that of the producer, the liability discharged was that of the producer. The excise duty paid by the petitioner was, said the High Court, in disch ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at the duty of excise falls on the production or manufacture of goods. Now, if the excise duty is payable by the manufacturer though not collected when the sale is made, the obligation is that of the manufacturer and if any other person discharges that obligation, that person discharges it on behalf of the manufacturer, and, therefore, the excise duty paid by the purchaser is to meet the liability of the manufacturer. The High Court was, therefore, right in concluding that the liability is cast on the manufacturer alone. Since this basic premise on which the Full Bench judgment is based is unexceptionable and since we cannot accept the contention attempted to be put forward that the liability is joint and several so far as the manufacturer ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... herefore under entry 57B of the First Schedule to the Act. So far as the first question is concerned, that stands concluded by the decision of the Full Bench of the Kerala High Court in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. v. State of Kerala [1993] 89 STC 106, which we have approved and affirmed while disposing of S.L.P. (C) No. 3091 of 1993. Therefore, the decision of the High Court on this point must be set aside and the appeals allowed in terms of the decision of the Full Bench of the Kerala High Court, the ratio whereof we have approved. 5.. So far as the second question is concerned, we are told that the very same point arises in Civil Appeal Nos. 374-377 of 1979 which has been referred to a three-Judge Bench. However, counsel for the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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