Retesting right under excise instructions cannot be denied merely because the original laboratory report appears complete.

Excise instructions conferring a right to retesting of sampled goods were treated as a statutory safeguard where the assessee timely applies and pays the prescribed fee after expressing dissatisfaction with the original chemical test. The request could not be refused merely because the departmental report was said to be complete or had been obtained from a government-recognised laboratory. The denial of retesting was viewed as a serious breach of natural justice in a fiscal proceeding with possible penal consequences, and the rejection of the retest request was held unsustainable; retesting of the available sample was directed.

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Issues: Whether the assessee, on expressing dissatisfaction with the departmental chemical test of samples drawn from its goods, was entitled to retesting of the samples under the excise instructions, and whether such request could be refused on the ground that the departmental reports were clear, complete, and obtained from government-recognised laboratories.

Analysis: The instructions governing testing and retesting of samples contemplated that, where an assessee is dissatisfied with the chemical test, an application for retest within the prescribed time and on payment of the prescribed fee is sufficient. The right was treated as a statutory protection linked with sample-drawing procedure and preservation of remnant samples. The refusal based only on the department's view that the existing reports were adequate, or that the tests had been conducted by recognised laboratories, was held to be irrelevant. In a fiscal proceeding carrying possible penal consequences, denial of the retest opportunity was viewed as a serious breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to retesting, and the rejection of the request for retest was unsustainable; the writ petition was allowed with directions for retesting of the available sample.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the applicable excise instructions confer a right to retesting on an assessee dissatisfied with the original test, a timely application and prescribed fee are sufficient, and the request cannot be declined merely because the departmental report is considered complete or was obtained from a recognised laboratory.

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