Jurisdiction of Additional Collector of Central Excise extended to customs powers under the notification, without separate appointment.

An Additional Collector of Central Excise was treated as a Collector for the purposes of the excise law under Rule 2(ii) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, and that inclusive definition was read with Notification No. 252/83-Cus. dated 27-8-1983. On that basis, a notification appointing the Collector of Central Excise as Collector of Customs was held to extend within the jurisdiction of the Additional Collector of Central Excise as well, so a separate appointment as Additional Collector of Customs was not necessary. The preliminary jurisdictional objection was rejected and the impugned order was upheld as within jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether an Additional Collector of Central Excise could validly act and pass an order as Additional Collector of Customs in the absence of a separate appointment under the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The order turned on the interaction between the definition of "Collector" under the Central Excise Rules, 1944 and the appointments made under Notification No. 252/83-Cus. dated 27-8-1983. By the inclusive definition in Rule 2(ii) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, an Additional Collector of Central Excise is treated as a Collector for the purposes of the excise law. On that basis, the appointment of a Collector of Central Excise as Collector of Customs under the notification was held to operate equally upon the Additional Collector of Central Excise within his jurisdiction. The absence of a separate notification appointing an Additional Collector of Customs was therefore not treated as fatal to jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The preliminary objection was rejected and the impugned order was held to be within jurisdiction, against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory scheme treats an Additional Collector of Central Excise as a Collector for all purposes, a notification appointing the Collector of Central Excise as Collector of Customs extends to the Additional Collector acting within that jurisdiction without the need for a separate appointment as Additional Collector of Customs.

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