Accrued excise credit under a rebate scheme survives rescission where the right had already crystallised.

A statutory excise rebate scheme for specified minor oils allowed manufacturers of vanaspati or soap to earn credit of money and use it against duty on final products. The rescission of the notifications stopped only the future earning of fresh credit; it did not withdraw credit already validly earned and crystallised. Because the accrued benefit had been created under the scheme and the rescission contained no express or implied removal of that vested right, accumulated credit remained usable for subsequent duty payments on the covered products.

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Issues: Whether manufacturers who had earned credit of money under the notified excise rebate scheme for use of specified minor oils could continue to utilise the accumulated credit for payment of duty after the notifications were rescinded.

Analysis: Rules 57K and 57N of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, together with the notifications issued under them, created a rebate mechanism under which a manufacturer who used notified minor oils in the manufacture of vanaspati or soap became entitled to earn credit of money and to utilise that credit towards duty on the final products. The scheme was intended to encourage use of minor oils and the credit, once validly earned, was a monetary benefit that had already crystallised. The rescission of the notifications withdrew only the future facility of earning further credit; it did not, either expressly or by necessary implication, take away the right to utilise credit already earned. A contrary construction would deprive manufacturers of an accrued benefit despite their having altered their production process in reliance on the scheme.

Conclusion: The accumulated credit earned before rescission remained available for utilisation towards excise duty on vanaspati or soap manufactured thereafter, and the objection raised by the revenue was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The manufacturers were entitled to continue using the credit lawfully earned under the earlier notifications, notwithstanding their rescission, and the writ petitions succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: A benefit of excise credit that has already accrued and crystallised under a statutory rebate scheme cannot be taken away by merely rescinding the notifications that enabled its earning, unless the rescission expressly or by necessary implication withdraws that accrued right.

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