Finality of unappealed excise adjudication barred reopening of deductions and assessable value in later appeal.

An unchallenged adjudication order dropping a show cause notice and accepting factory gate sale price as the normal price under section 4 bound the later appellate process. Once the Commissioner of Central Excise had finalised the matter on that basis and no Revenue appeal was filed, the appellate authority could not reopen deductions relating to freight and container rent or enlarge the scope of the final order through an appeal against the consequential assessment. The later appellate order was therefore unsustainable, and relief was granted to the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the appellate authority could reopen deductions and vary the assessable value after the Commissioner of Central Excise had already dropped the proceedings and accepted the factory gate sale price as the normal price under section 4, and no appeal had been filed against that adjudication order.

Analysis: A show cause notice relating to freight and rent on containers had been adjudicated by the Commissioner of Central Excise, who dropped the proceedings and directed finalisation of assessment on the basis of the factory gate sale price as the normal price. That order was not challenged by the Revenue. The assessment made consequentially by the Assistant Commissioner could therefore not be appealed in a manner that enlarged the scope of the earlier, unassailed adjudication. The appellate authority was bound by the limits of that earlier final order and could not go behind it.

Conclusion: The appellate order was unsustainable and the appeal was allowed in favour of the assessee.

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