Official Gazette publication governs excise notification effectiveness; later public availability does not delay the duty-rate change.

An excise exemption notification altering the duty rate became operative on publication in the Official Gazette, and later public availability did not defer its legal effect. The Court applied the settled principle that a notification takes effect from the date of Gazette publication, not from the date it is physically made available to the public. As the notification was published in the Gazette on the same day it was issued, clearances made on that date were governed by the new rate, and assessment at the earlier rate was not available.

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Issues: Whether an excise exemption notification altering the rate of duty became operative on publication in the Official Gazette notwithstanding the contention that it was not publicly available until the following day.

Analysis: The petitioners claimed that clearances effected on the date of the notification should be assessed at the earlier rate because the notification was said to have become available to the public only later. The Court applied the settled principle that the operative date of a notification is the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Since the notification was published in the Gazette on the same day it was issued, subsequent public availability did not postpone its legal effect.

Conclusion: The notification took effect on publication in the Official Gazette on 2 September 1985, and the petitioners were not entitled to assessment at the earlier rate.

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