Section 11D cannot apply without proof of excess duty collection; higher sale price alone does not sustain demand.

Section 11D of the Central Excise Act, 1944 applies only where an assessee collects from a buyer an amount in excess of the duty assessed or determined as excise duty. Here, the invoice trail showed that duty at refinery clearance and duty reflected in depot sales invoices corresponded, and the revised higher sale price did not by itself prove collection of any excess amount as duty. In the absence of credible evidence that any additional sum was recovered representing excise duty, a demand based on presumption could not stand. Section 11D was therefore not invocable on these facts, and the excise demand could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether Section 11D of the Central Excise Act, 1944 could be invoked to recover duty where the assessee sold aviation turbine fuel at a revised higher price but did not collect any amount over and above the duty already paid on clearance from the refinery.

Analysis: Section 11D applies only when a person has collected an amount in excess of the duty assessed or determined from the buyer as representing excise duty, and such amount is liable to be paid to the Government. The invoice comparison placed on record showed that the duty charged in the refinery clearance invoices and the duty reflected in the depot sales invoices corresponded, and the higher sale price did not establish collection of any excess amount as excise duty. The Department did not produce credible evidence to show that the assessee had collected any amount representing duty of excise beyond what was already paid, and a demand founded only on presumption could not be sustained.

Conclusion: Section 11D was not invocable on the facts, and the demand of central excise duty could not be sustained.

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