Excise exemption cannot extend to additional customs duty unless the notification expressly covers that levy.

An excise exemption notification issued under Rule 8(1) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 could not be relied on to claim refund of additional duty of customs under Section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Additional duty of customs partakes the character of customs duty, and an exemption from excise duty does not extend to that levy unless the notification expressly or by necessary implication covers customs duty. Because Notification No. 55/75-C.E. made no reference to customs duty, the refund claim was rejected and the rejection was affirmed.

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Issues: Whether the appellants were entitled to refund of additional duty of customs on the basis of Notification No. 55/75-C.E., which was issued under Rule 8(1) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 and did not refer to customs duty.

Analysis: The notification was an excise exemption issued under Rule 8(1) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. Additional duty levied under Section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 partakes the character of customs duty. An exemption granted under the excise rules cannot, by itself, be extended to customs duty unless the notification clearly covers that levy. Since the notification contained no reference to customs duty, the claim for refund could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The appellants were not entitled to refund; the claim was rightly rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the rejection of the refund claim stood affirmed on the ground that an excise exemption notification could not be used to claim exemption from additional duty of customs.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption notification issued under the Central Excise Rules cannot be applied to additional duty of customs unless its language expressly or by necessary implication covers customs duty.

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