Interest on differential excise duty from supplementary invoices requires fresh scrutiny of purchase orders and invoice timing.

Interest under section 11AB of the Central Excise Act on differential duty arising from retrospective price revision and supplementary invoices required fresh examination because the relevant purchase order and related materials had not been considered. The HC found that the Tribunal should reassess whether interest was payable from the date of the original invoice, following the approach indicated by the Supreme Court in a similar matter. The Tribunal's order was set aside and the matter remanded for decision in accordance with law, with no view expressed on the merits of the interest claim.

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Issues: Whether interest under section 11AB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 was payable on the additional duty arising from retrospective upward revision of prices and supplementary invoices, and whether the Tribunal had to examine the relevant purchase order and related materials before deciding the entitlement to interest.

Analysis: The dispute arose from clearance of goods followed by supplementary invoices issued on account of enhanced prices, with differential excise duty paid thereafter. The relevant purchase order was a material document, yet the earlier authorities did not examine its effect while considering the claim for interest on the additional duty. In a similar matter, the Supreme Court had directed fresh consideration of whether interest could be claimed from the date of the original invoice, and the same approach was found appropriate here.

Conclusion: The order of the Tribunal was set aside and the matter was remanded to the Tribunal for fresh consideration in accordance with law. No opinion was expressed on the merits of the claim for interest.

Final Conclusion: The controversy on liability to interest was left open for reconsideration by the Tribunal, and the appeals were disposed of by remand.

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