Trade notice not appealable before Tribunal where it is only general guidance and not an adjudicatory order.

A general trade notice issued under the Central Excise Rules as guidance to the trade is not a decision or order passed by the Collector in an adjudicating capacity, and a related communication that merely reiterates that position also lacks the character of an adjudicatory order. Because appellate jurisdiction under Section 35B(1)(a) extends only to a decision or order of the Collector acting as adjudicating authority, neither instrument was appealable before the Tribunal. The asserted inherent power to entertain the matter was also rejected because an appeal exists only by statute.

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Issues: Whether an appeal lay before the Tribunal against a trade notice and the connected communication, and whether such trade notice or communication could be treated as an appealable order.

Analysis: The trade notice was issued as a general instruction and guidance to the trade under Rule 233 of the Central Excise Rules and not as a decision or order passed by the Collector in his capacity as an adjudicating authority. The connected communication merely reiterated the position taken in the trade notice and did not amount to an order of adjudication against a particular assessee. Since the appellate jurisdiction under Section 35B(1)(a) of the Central Excises and Salt Act extends only to a decision or order passed by the Collector as adjudicating authority, a trade notice and the related correspondence were held not to satisfy the statutory requirement for appeal. The claimed inherent power to entertain the appeal was also rejected, as appeal is a creature of statute.

Conclusion: No appeal lay against the trade notice or the accompanying communication, and the appeal was held not maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A general trade notice issued under the Central Excise Rules is not an adjudicatory order under Section 35B(1)(a) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, and therefore is not appealable before the Tribunal.

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