Misdeclaration and limitation in excise declarations: a factual dispute over crucibles did not raise any referable question of law.

A declaration filed in the prescribed proforma treated crucibles as an input component linked to the melting machinery for producing zinc dust, powder or flakes. Read as a whole, the declaration did not amount to deliberate suppression or misdeclaration, because the form itself omitted a separate column for machinery components and the description was consistent with the stated final product. The demand was also raised beyond six months, so the limitation objection could not be defeated by alleging departmental ignorance of the meaning of crucibles. On these facts, no referable question of law or mixed question of law and fact arose, and the reference application was rejected as not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether the reference application could succeed on the ground that crucibles were deliberately misdeclared as components and that the demand was within limitation.

Analysis: The declaration was filed in the prescribed proforma and showed the final product as zinc dust, powder or flakes, with crucibles entered under the general heading of inputs as a component. On the facts stated, crucibles could only be a component of the melting machinery and not of the final product. The omission of a separate column for machinery components meant that the description could not be treated as a deliberate misdeclaration. The demand was also raised beyond six months, and the departmental officers could not rely on ignorance of the obvious meaning of crucibles to avoid the limitation objection. No question of law or mixed question of law and fact arose warranting reference.

Conclusion: The reference application was not maintainable and was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the declaration, read as a whole, does not amount to deliberate suppression or misdeclaration and the demand is raised beyond the prescribed period, no referable question of law arises merely because the department disputes the factual inference.

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