Unutilised wrong credit cannot attract interest where reversal is required, as the legal issue was already settled.

Interest is not chargeable on wrongly taken central excise credit where the credit remained unutilised and was merely required to be reversed. The Court treated the issue as covered by its earlier ruling on the same legal question, which held that interest cannot be levied absent actual utilisation of the credit. As no substantial question of law arose, the assessee's position was accepted and the tribunal's view was left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether interest is chargeable on credit wrongly taken but lying unutilised under the relevant central excise credit provisions.

Analysis: The dispute concerned levy of interest on credit that had been wrongly taken and directed to be reversed. The issue was treated as already settled by the Court in an earlier decision on the same legal question, where it was held that interest cannot be levied on credit which was not actually utilised but remained unutilised and was ordered to be reversed. Following that settled position, no substantial question of law was found to arise for consideration.

Conclusion: Interest was not chargeable on the unutilised credit, and the issue was answered in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the legal question was covered against the revenue, and the tribunal's view was left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Interest cannot be levied on wrongly taken credit that remains unutilised and is only required to be reversed.

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