Contemporaneous records override gate pass wording when excise documents support the same goods and fresh scrutiny is required.

Contemporaneous statutory and business records supported the assessee's claim, so the refund/duty determination could not be rejected solely because the gate passes used a different product description. Rule 52A of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 contemplates gate pass documentation together with delivery invoices, challans and similar records containing relevant particulars, and those documents had to be read together. As the contemporaneous challans matched the clearances and there was no indication of surreptitious removal of a different product, the matter required fresh examination on the full documentary record. The rejection was set aside and the dispute restored for de novo adjudication.

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Issues: Whether the refund claim could be rejected solely on the description in the gate passes when the contemporaneous challans and other statutory records showed the goods as the same product, and whether the matter required fresh examination on the basis of such documents.

Analysis: Rule 52A of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 recognises gate pass documentation in conjunction with the assessee's delivery invoice, challan, advice note or similar records containing the relevant particulars. The contemporaneous challans matched the disputed clearances and referred to the product as reversible mill ends. In that setting, the assessment authorities ought not to have ignored the other contemporaneous documents merely because the gate passes used a different description. The record also did not show any case of surreptitious removal of a different product, so the claim required examination on the basis of the full documentary record.

Conclusion: The rejection of the claim on the gate pass description alone was not sustainable, and the matter had to be re-examined de novo on the basis of the contemporaneous documents and statutory records.

Final Conclusion: The order under challenge was set aside and the dispute was restored for fresh adjudication on the available documentary evidence.

Ratio Decidendi: Where contemporaneous statutory and business records support the assessee's claim, the duty determination cannot rest exclusively on the wording of the gate pass, and all relevant documents must be considered before rejecting the claim.

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