Rate of duty exclusion under excise law barred reference where proforma credit and notification applicability affected duty determination.

Section 35G barred a reference application where the underlying dispute concerned proforma credit under Rule 56A and the applicability of Notification No. 144/75-C.E., because those questions had a direct relation to the rate of excise duty. The Tribunal's order had to be read from the pleadings as a whole, and the statutory exclusion was wide enough to cover matters affecting rate determination even if the appeal had been disposed of on a preliminary ground. On that basis, the reference was not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether the application under Section 35G of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 was maintainable when the Tribunal's order arose from disputes concerning Rule 56A and Notification No. 144/75-C.E. and therefore related to the determination of a question having relation to the rate of duty of excise.

Analysis: The application for reference was tested against the statutory exclusion in Section 35G. The underlying dispute, though the Tribunal had disposed of the appeal on a preliminary ground, concerned the assessee's claim to proforma credit and the applicability of Notification No. 144/75-C.E. read with Rule 56A of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. Those matters directly bore upon the rate of duty of excise. The statutory phrase relating to the determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty was treated as wide enough to cover such issues, and the nature of the Tribunal proceedings had to be gathered from the pleadings as a whole.

Conclusion: The reference application was barred by Section 35G and was not maintainable.

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