Excise duty deductions must be reassessed after later precedent, with any refund claim tested under Section 11B.

The assessee's excise duty liability and related deductions had to be reassessed in light of a later Supreme Court ruling on similar deduction heads, and the matter was remitted for fresh determination after allowing only deductions legally admissible on that basis. If the reassessment produced a refund, its maintainability would then have to be examined under Section 11B of the Central Excises and Salt Act.

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Issues: Whether the excise duty liability and consequential deductions had to be reconsidered in the light of the later Supreme Court ruling, and whether any resultant refund claim would be governed by Section 11B of the Central Excises and Salt Act.

Analysis: The common judgment under appeal had granted deductions under several heads. Since a subsequent Supreme Court decision had already determined the allowability of deductions under similar heads, the entire matter required reassessment on that basis. The proper course was to send the matter back to the Assistant Collector, who had originally dealt with it, for fresh determination of the assessee's excise duty liability after applying the later ruling and after allowing such deductions as were legally admissible. The Court further indicated that, if a refund emerged on that exercise, the question of refundability would have to be examined under Section 11B of the Central Excises and Salt Act.

Conclusion: The matter was remitted to the Assistant Collector for fresh determination of excise duty liability and related deductions, with any refund issue to be considered under Section 11B.

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