Court Orders Issuance of No Objection Certificate for Rectifying Excise Duty Error

The court directed the 3rd respondent to issue a No Objection Certificate within one week, rectifying the wrongly credited excise duty liability between two manufacturing units. The amounts were to be transferred accordingly, and the writ petition was allowed without costs.

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Issues:
Adjustment of credit made wrongly for excise duty liability between two manufacturing units.

Analysis:
The judgment deals with the issue of adjusting credit wrongly made for excise duty liability between two manufacturing units owned by the petitioner. The petitioner had mistakenly remitted the excise duty payable by one unit to the other unit. The 7th respondent acknowledged the mistake through Ext.P4, certifying it as a bona fide error that could be rectified. The learned Standing Counsel for respondents 1 to 7 pointed out that a No Objection Certificate from the 3rd respondent was necessary, which was considered a technicality that could have been resolved internally. Reference was made to a circular from the Office of the Commissioner of Central Excise, Customs, and Service Tax, Cochin Commissionerate (Ext.P3), which addressed such rectifiable issues.

The court directed the 3rd respondent to issue a No Objection Certificate in line with Ext.P4 within one week of receiving a certified copy of the judgment. Additionally, the amounts wrongly credited to the Thiruvananthapuram Division were to be transmitted to the Cochin Division, with acceptance by the 6th respondent. Consequently, the writ petition was allowed, and no costs were imposed.

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