Approved excise classification lists can be reviewed when the grounds for change are properly communicated.

An approved excise classification list is not immune from review merely because it was earlier accepted by the same authority. The proper excise authority may adopt a different view on classification, provided the grounds for revision are clearly communicated through the show cause notice and the assessee is given an opportunity to meet the departmental case. The lower appellate authority therefore erred in treating prior approval as a bar to review by the officer who had originally approved the list.

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Issues: Whether the Assistant Collector could review the classification list earlier approved by him.

Analysis: The approved classification list was not immune from review merely because it had been accepted earlier. The excise authorities were entitled to take a different view from the earlier approval, and the grounds for revision had been clearly set out in the show cause notices, so there was no failure of opportunity to meet the departmental case.

Conclusion: The lower appellate authority erred in holding that the classification list could not be reviewed by the officer who had approved it.

Ratio Decidendi: An approved classification list can be reviewed by the proper excise authority, and prior approval does not preclude the department from taking a different view when the grounds for review are duly communicated.

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