Abatement under Rule 96ZO(2) depends on a full seven-day closure, with each day counted midnight to midnight.

Abatement of central excise duty under Rule 96ZO(2)(e) required a continuous closure of not less than seven days, with closure and restart intimated in the prescribed manner. The expression "day" was treated as a natural day running from midnight to midnight, so any part-day operation of the furnace on the first and last dates of closure was excluded from the qualifying period. On that computation, the furnace remained shut for only six continuous days, and the abatement claim was not available.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to abatement of central excise duty under Rule 96ZO(2)(e) on the footing that the furnace remained closed for a continuous period of seven days when the closure commenced and ended during the course of a day.

Analysis: The conditions for abatement under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and Rule 96ZO of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 required non-production during a continuous period of not less than seven days, with intimation of closure and restarting in the manner prescribed. The expression "day" was treated as a natural day running from midnight to midnight, and the hours on which the furnace actually functioned on the first and last dates of closure were therefore excluded from the claimed closure period. On that reckoning, the furnace was found to have remained shut only for six continuous days.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to abatement, and the denial of the claim was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: For abatement under Rule 96ZO(2), a continuous period of not less than seven days is to be computed by reckoning a day as running from midnight to midnight, and any day on which the furnace functioned for part of the day is excluded from the qualifying closure period.

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