Adjudication period widened to cover the full show cause notice span, with suppression and misstatement left for remand review.

The Tribunal had confined adjudication to January 1997 to October 1997 on the view that the relevant price list related to another unit. The record showed that the price list in question pertained to a different unit and not to the Pune unit, so the restriction was modified. The Department's invocation of the longer period on grounds of suppression and misstatement was left open for the Commissioner to examine on remand, on the basis of the record and in accordance with law. The matter was therefore to be considered for the full period from January 1995 to October 1997.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication period had to be confined to January 1997 to October 1997, or whether it should extend to the full period covered by the show cause notice from January 1995 to October 1997.

Analysis: The Tribunal had limited the inquiry to the later period on the footing that the relevant price list pertained to another unit. On examination of the record, the Court found that the price list referred to by the Tribunal related to a different unit and not to the Pune unit in question. The Department had invoked the longer period on the basis of suppression and misstatement, and that question was left open for consideration by the Commissioner on remand with reference to the record and in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's restriction was modified, and the matter was to be examined for the entire period from January 1995 to October 1997.

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