Mistake apparent on record: failure to consider a cited High Court ruling justified recall on the time-bar issue.

Non-consideration of a cited High Court decision while deciding an appeal was treated as a mistake apparent on the face of the record, because the omitted precedent directly supported the assessee's contrary limitation argument. The challenged order had followed Tribunal precedent to hold that the limitation under Rule 11A did not apply to notices issued under Rule 196 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, but it had not dealt with the later Allahabad High Court ruling cited before the Bench. On that basis, the recall request was held maintainable and the final order was recalled to the extent it concerned the time-bar issue for issuance of the show cause notice.

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Issues: Whether non-consideration of a cited High Court judgment while disposing of the appeal constituted a mistake apparent on the face of the record warranting recall of the final order.

Analysis: The challenged final order had relied on Tribunal precedent to hold that the limitation under section 11A did not apply to notices issued under Rule 196 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, but it did not refer to the later Allahabad High Court decision cited by the assessee taking the opposite view. The omission of a judicial precedent relied upon before the Bench was treated as an error apparent on the face of the record. On that basis, the request for recall was considered maintainable.

Conclusion: The recall application was allowed and the final order was recalled insofar as it related to the issue of time bar for issuance of the show cause notice.

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