Registration certificate under excise rules cannot be refused for predecessor dues where the rule mandates timely grant and deemed approval.

Rule 174 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 required a transferee to obtain a fresh registration certificate for the relevant premises, and the proper officer had to grant registration within thirty days, with registration deemed granted if no certificate was issued in that period. The authorities could not refuse registration on the ground that the predecessor had arrears or that an earlier registration had not been surrendered, because those are not refusal grounds under the rule. Their power was limited to suspension or revocation in the specific circumstances expressly provided. The refusal to issue the certificate was therefore without jurisdiction, and the application had to be processed according to law within the prescribed time.

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Issues: Whether the authorities could refuse to issue a fresh registration certificate under Rule 174 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 to a transferee on the ground that the predecessor had arrears or that the earlier registration had not been surrendered.

Analysis: Rule 174 requires registration for carrying on the specified business and provides separate registration for each premises. Sub-rule (5) obliges a transferee to obtain a fresh certificate, while sub-rule (9) requires the proper officer to grant registration within thirty days and creates a deeming fiction that registration stands granted if no certificate is issued within that period. The rule does not confer power to refuse registration on the ground of predecessor dues or the continuance of an existing registration; sub-rule (11) only authorises revocation or suspension in specified circumstances and does not permit denial of the certificate at the stage of application.

Conclusion: The refusal to issue the certificate was without jurisdiction, and the authorities were bound to consider and process the application for registration in accordance with law. The petitioners were entitled to have their application dealt with within the time prescribed, failing which the deeming provision would operate.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing registration rule mandates issuance of a certificate within a fixed time and provides a deeming grant on non-action, the authority cannot refuse registration on grounds not authorised by the rule, and its power is confined to the specific suspension or revocation grounds expressly provided.

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