Interest on delayed cess payment cannot be imposed without a substantive charging provision in the parent statute.

Interest on delayed payment of Education Cess on oil cess was held not leviable because the Oil Industry (Development) Act, 1974 contained no substantive charging provision authorising interest for delayed payment. The Tribunal noted that the Central Excise Act, 1944 and its rules applied only so far as may be for levy and collection, and could not by themselves create an interest liability where the parent statute was silent. The challenge was confined to the interest demand, and the separate issue on Education Cess was not pressed. The interest demand was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether interest was leviable on delayed payment of Education Cess on oil cess.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that the charging provision under the Oil Industry (Development) Act, 1974 dealt with levy and collection of duty of excise, while the provisions of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the rules made thereunder were attracted only so far as may be for levy and collection. Relying on the settled principle that interest on delayed payment can be imposed only when the charging statute contains a substantive provision authorising such levy, it held that no provision in the Oil Industry (Development) Act, 1974 created liability to interest for delayed payment of cess. The appellant's challenge was confined to the interest demand, and the separate issue relating to Education Cess itself was not pressed.

Conclusion: The demand of interest was not sustainable and was set aside in favour of the assessee.

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