9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (4) TMI 1086X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... upheld the Order-in-Original. 2. Briefly the facts of the present case are that the appellants are manufacturers of various petroleum products including Motor Spirit (MS), High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). By Notification No. 22/ 2014 dated 12.11.2014 and Notification No. 24/2014 dated 02.12.2014 the excise duty applicable on MSD HSD and ATF were enhanced as under: (Notification No. 22/2014) Product Duty (Old) Duty (New) HSD (Unbranded) Rs. 1.46/L Rs. 2.96/L MS (Branded) Rs. 2.35/L Rs. 3.85/L (Notification No. 24/2014) Product Duty (Old) Duty (New) HSD (Unbranded) Rs. 2.96/L Rs. 3.96/L Ms (Branded) Rs. 3.85/L Rs. 6.1/L Ms (Unbranded) Rs. 2.7/L Rs. 4.95/L As the clearances were already effected ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r submits that as per Section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 Act, a notification comes into effect when: a. it is published in the official gazette b. it is offered for sale to the public 7. She further submits that only when both these conditions are fulfilled, the Notification will be said to come in effect. Whereas, in the present case both the Notification dated 12.11.2014 and 02.12.2014 were not issued for publication in the official gazette not offered for sale on the said date. Therefore, the Appellant is not liable to pay duty as per the Notifications on 12.11.2014 and 02.12.2014. 8. She further submits that on identical facts in the appellant's own case the Ahmedabad Bench of the CESTAT has considered both these Notificati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly when the sale price remained unchanged even after increase in the rate of duty and the price of the commodity was controlled by the government. 4.1 As regard the issue (a), we find that the relevant provision is made under Sub-section (5) of Section 5A of Central Excise Act, 1944 which is reproduced below: "[(5) Every notification issued under sub-section (1) [or sub-section (2A)] shall,- (a) unless otherwise provided, come into force on the date of its issue by the Central Government for publication in the Official Gazette; (b) also be published and offered for sale on the date of its issue by the Directorate of Publicity and Public Relations, Customs and Central Excise, New Delhi, under the Central Board of Excise and Custo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the Appellant's argument that the applicability of Notifications would be from the date of publication in the Gazette in terms of Section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is correct, legal and proper. Therefore, the impugned orders in respect of Excise Appeal Nos.75944, 75945 of 2016, Excise Appeal No.76508 of 2018 and Excise Appeal No.75164 of 2022, cannot be sustained and therefore are set aside. Accordingly, Excise Appeal Nos. 75872 and 75954 of 2016 are hereby dismissed." 13. Not satisfied with the decision of the CESTAT, Kolkata, the Department further challenged the order of the Tribunal before the Hon'ble High Court of Calcutta and the appeal filed by the Department was also dismissed by the High Court vide its order dat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cations were published only on 22.11.2014 and 11.12.2014, the same would be the date on which the notifications came into force and, therefore, the finding recorded by the adjudicating authority and the first Appellate Authority that the notifications came into effect on 11.12.2013 is factually incorrect. Furthermore, the respondent/assessee has made a search in the official website of the Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India from which it is seen that notification No. 22 of 2014 was issued on 12.11.2014 but was published in the Gazette only on 22.11.2014. Likewise, Notification No. 24 of 2014 was issued on 2.12.2014 and published on 11.12.2014. Thus the notifications would come into effect o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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