Board clarification applies to pending excise appeals and governs duty treatment of printing paste.

A Board circular or clarification issued under excise law applies to pending appeals and is not confined to future cases where the matter is still sub judice. The Tribunal treated the clarification as governing the dispute before it and rejected the Revenue's prospective-only argument. On that basis, printing paste prepared from formulated standard dyes or by simple mixing with other material was treated as not liable to central excise duty.

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Issues: Whether a clarification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs applies to pending appeals and whether printing paste prepared from formulated standard dyes or by simple mixing with other material is liable to central excise duty.

Analysis: The clarification relied upon by the Revenue stated that the printing paste in question was not liable to duty. The Tribunal held that a Board circular or clarification applies to all pending matters and cannot be confined only to future cases when the appeal is still pending. Since the controversy before the Tribunal fell within the scope of that clarification, the Revenue's contention that it operated only prospectively was rejected.

Conclusion: The clarification was held applicable to the pending appeals, and the printing paste was treated as not liable to duty.

Ratio Decidendi: A Board circular or clarification issued under the excise law applies to all pending matters, and the duty position declared therein governs appeals still pending when the clarification is issued.

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