Central Excise - Whether coercive measures to recover duty demanded as a result of adjudication till such time as the appeal filed by the appellant has been disposed of by the Collector (Appeals) be taken - Regarding

Recovery of excise dues not automatically stayed pending appeal; coercive measures proceed absent approved stay application.

Recovery of adjudged central excise dues should not be automatically stayed pending appeal; officers must allow a period of three months from the date of decision for payment before resorting to coercive measures, but must initiate recovery immediately if a stay application is rejected earlier. The Board rejected a blanket stay approach and directed that stay applications be disposed of promptly, specifying that stay applications should be decided within two months if the main appeal cannot be disposed of within the same period.