Excise duty cannot be recovered at a later enhanced rate for an earlier period without operative legal authority.

Excise duty could be levied and collected only under the law in force for the relevant period. The rate remained Rs. 40 per litre until 17 April 1978, when a notification under the U.P. Excise Act, 1910 raised it to Rs. 55 per litre. A prior notice of the proposed annual rate did not authorise recovery of the enhanced duty for 1 April 1978 to 16 April 1978. Private realisation of a higher amount by dealers did not validate State collection of tax not due. The enhanced rate was therefore not recoverable for the earlier period.

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Issues: Whether excise duty could be recovered at the enhanced rate of Rs. 55 per litre for the period from 1 April 1978 to 16 April 1978 on the basis of a notification issued on 17 April 1978 and an earlier notice indicating the higher rate.

Analysis: Excise duty, being a tax, could be levied or collected only under authority of law. The rate in force before 17 April 1978 was Rs. 40 per litre, and the notification issued under Sections 28 and 29 of the U.P. Excise Act, 1910 enhanced the rate to Rs. 55 per litre only from 17 April 1978. A prior notice stating the proposed annual rate could not authorise collection at the enhanced rate for the earlier period. The fact that the dealers may have realised a higher amount from their purchasers did not validate recovery by the State, because money not due as tax cannot be collected by the State merely because it was wrongly collected by the dealer.

Conclusion: The enhanced rate was not recoverable for the period from 1 April 1978 to 16 April 1978, and the duty for that period was payable only at Rs. 40 per litre; the writ petitions were therefore allowed.

Final Conclusion: Fiscal exaction must rest on an operative legal authority, and a subsequent enhancement cannot be applied to an earlier period merely because of an advance notice or private collection from dealers.

Ratio Decidendi: A tax or duty can be levied and collected only in accordance with law in force for the relevant period, and a later notification cannot justify recovery of an enhanced rate for an earlier period.

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