Rule 96ZNA permits later commencement of permission when the open air stenter had ceased to exist from the relevant date.

Rule 96ZNA did not bar grant of permission from a date after 1-5-2001 where the assessee had no open air stenter in the factory from 8-5-2001. The rejection based on the alleged existence of an open air stenter on 1-5-2001 was not sustained, because the record showed the stenter had ceased to exist from 8-5-2001 and the rule did not prohibit a later commencement date. The assessee's undertaking to pay duty with interest for the intervening period from 1-5-2001 to 7-5-2001 on actual production basis under the Central Excise Act was accepted, and permission was held allowable from 8-5-2001 to 31-3-2002.

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Issues: Whether the application under Rule 96ZNA could be granted from a date later than 1-5-2001 when the appellant had no open air stenter in the factory from 8-5-2001.

Analysis: The application for permission under sub-rule (2) of Rule 96ZNA was rejected on the premise that the appellant had an open air stenter as on 1-5-2001. The Tribunal found that the Commissioner himself had recorded that the appellant had no open air stenter in the factory from 8-5-2001. It further held that nothing in Rule 96ZNA prohibited grant of permission for a period commencing after 1-5-2001. The appellant's undertaking to pay duty with interest for the intervening period from 1-5-2001 to 7-5-2001 on the basis of actual production under Section 3 of the Central Excise Act was accepted.

Conclusion: The application was allowable from 8-5-2001 to 31-3-2002 and the objection based on the existence of an open air stenter on 1-5-2001 was rejected.

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