Excise duty recovery for past periods can proceed despite earlier accepted classification, and estoppel does not bar retrospective demand.

Excise duty recovery for a past period could be pursued through a show cause notice issued within the prescribed limitation, and earlier acceptance of the assessee's classification and price list did not bar retrospective demand. The Court treated the governing recovery provisions as permitting short-levy or non-levy demands for periods preceding the notice, so the Department was not estopped from questioning the classification merely because it had been accepted year after year. The plea against recovery of past duty was therefore rejected, and the demand for the earlier period was upheld as maintainable.

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Issues: Whether the Department could recover excise duty for the past period by issuing a show cause notice within the prescribed time and whether acceptance of the classification and price list by the Department year after year estopped it from questioning the classification retrospectively.

Analysis: The notice was held to be within time under the governing recovery provisions. The Court distinguished the earlier reliance placed on the accepted classification principle and held that the relevant provisions contemplated recovery of duty short-levied or not levied for a period prior to the notice. The purpose of the notice was recovery of past dues, and the Department was not precluded from issuing a notice merely because the classification and price list had earlier been accepted.

Conclusion: The plea of estoppel and the challenge to recovery for the past period were rejected, and the contention that past excise duty could not be demanded was answered against the assessee.

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