Court allows recovery of additional duties by Western Coal Fields in transaction value dispute. Upholds legality, dismisses writ petitions.

The court held that Western Coal Fields (WCL) could recover the additional Central Excise duty from the petitioners, including "Royalty" and "Stowing Excise Duty" components in the transaction value. It found that WCL's actions were lawful, following directives from Coal India Ltd. and the Excise Department. The court dismissed the writ petitions, emphasizing the need to safeguard public revenue and stating that if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioners, they could seek a refund through appropriate legal channels. The court upheld the validity of WCL's actions and continued interim orders for eight weeks for potential further relief.

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Issues Involved:
1. Whether additional (differential) Central Excise duty paid by adding "Royalty" and "Stowing Excise Duty" to the transaction value can be recovered by WCL from the Petitioners.
2. Validity of retrospective recovery of differential Excise duty.
3. Impact of pending reference before the Larger Bench of the Supreme Court on the current legal position.
4. Jurisdiction of writ petitions in non-statutory contractual disputes involving arbitration clauses.

Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:

1. Recovery of Differential Central Excise Duty:
The central issue was whether the additional Central Excise duty, calculated by including "Royalty" and "Stowing Excise Duty" as components of the transaction value, could be recovered by Western Coal Fields (WCL) from the Petitioners. The court noted that the petitioners had been paying the excise duty on these components from 1-3-2013 onwards, but WCL sought reimbursement for the period from 1-3-2011 to 28-2-2013. The petitioners argued that as per the law, excise duty could not be demanded on these components and that retrospective recovery was impermissible.

2. Retrospective Recovery:
The petitioners contended that retrospective recovery of the differential duty was not permissible. They argued that the burden could not be passed to the next consumer/purchaser/beneficiary retrospectively. The court noted that WCL had issued notices and communications to the petitioners informing them of the need to pay excise duty on "Royalty" and "Stowing Excise Duty" from 1-3-2013 onwards. The court found that WCL's actions were in compliance with directives from Coal India Ltd. and the Excise Department.

3. Pending Reference Before Larger Bench of Supreme Court:
The petitioners argued that the reference of the issue to a Larger Bench of the Supreme Court did not unsettle the existing law, which should be enforced until a contrary view was taken. The court, however, observed that the pending reference created uncertainty and that the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court in earlier judgments needed to be considered. The court referred to judgments from other High Courts (Allahabad, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh) that had dealt with similar issues and had declined to interfere in writ jurisdiction, emphasizing the need to safeguard public revenue.

4. Jurisdiction of Writ Petitions and Arbitration Clauses:
The respondents argued that the contract between the petitioners and WCL was non-statutory and contained an arbitration clause, making the writ petitions inappropriate. The court agreed, noting that the disputes arose from non-statutory contracts and were subject to arbitration. The court cited judgments that supported the view that non-statutory contractual disputes involving arbitration clauses should not be entertained under writ jurisdiction.

Conclusion:
The court concluded that the public money needed to be secured and was safer with WCL than with the petitioners. It held that if the Supreme Court ultimately decided in favor of the petitioners, they could seek a refund through appropriate legal proceedings. The court dismissed all the writ petitions, vacated the interim orders, and agreed with the views of the Allahabad, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand High Courts. The interim orders were continued for eight weeks to allow the petitioners time to seek further relief.

Separate Judgments:
There were no separate judgments delivered by the judges in this case. The judgment was delivered collectively.

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