Section 3A duty cannot continue after accepted permanent factory closure; post-closure demand was disallowed.

Duty under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act was held not recoverable for the period after a factory's permanent closure when the closure had been intimated to and accepted by the Department. The analysis applied the Tribunal's earlier view that liability under Section 3A does not continue beyond the date of accepted permanent closure, so the subsequent period could not be brought to duty. On the admitted facts, the relevant period extended past the closure date of 2-10-97, but no duty demand survived for that post-closure period.

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Issues: Whether duty under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 could be demanded for the period after the factory had permanently closed and the closure had been intimated to and accepted by the Department.

Analysis: The appeal was decided on a limited issue arising from the admitted permanent closure of the factory from 2-10-97. The relevant period extended beyond the closure date, and the Department accepted the intimation of closure. Following the Tribunal's earlier view that liability under Section 3A does not continue for the period after permanent closure once intimation is accepted, no duty could be demanded for the subsequent period.

Conclusion: Duty was not recoverable for the period after 2-10-97; the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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