Returned goods and re-clearance dispute fails where prior ruling held no fresh duty on re-packed pan masala.

Returned pan masala that was re-mixed and re-cleared after duty payment was treated consistently with the assessee's own earlier case, where mixing of returned bags was held not to amount to manufacture and no further duty was payable on the re-packed goods under the relevant Central Excise rules. Because that issue had already been decided in favour of the assessee and affirmed by the High Court, there was no surviving basis for the Revenue's challenge to the refund of duty on the re-cleared goods. The Revenue's appeal was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the Revenue's appeal against grant of refund of duty on re-mixed pan masala, after return of rejected goods and re-clearance on payment of duty, survived in view of the earlier decision in the assessee's own case.

Analysis: The goods were originally cleared on payment of duty, returned by customers, re-mixed, and cleared again on payment of duty under Rule 173L of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. The same dispute had already been decided in the assessee's own case, where it was held that mixing of returned pan masala bags did not amount to manufacture and that duty was not payable again on the re-packed goods under Rule 173H of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. That reference had also been answered by the High Court in favour of the assessee, leaving no surviving basis for the Revenue's challenge.

Conclusion: The Revenue's appeal was rejected.

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