https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=259626 The SC upheld the retrospective withdrawal of an area-based excise duty exemption, ruling that recovery of duty without prior show cause notice did not violate natural justice principles under the "useless formality" doctrine. The Court held that procedural fairness aims at correct decisions but is not always contingent on statutory notice provisions. Since the exemption was nullified retrospectively by statute, the appellant was liable to refund the benefit without prejudice from non-issuance of notice. Section 154(4) allowed recovery within thirty days post Presidential assent, rendering the six-month limitation under Section 11A inapplicable. The decision reaffirmed prior rulings in R.C. Tobacco and J.K. Cotton, rejecting the appellant's plea and confirming the duty recovery against the assessee. en-us Thu, 14 May 2015 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:51:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=259626 The SC upheld the retrospective withdrawal of an area-based excise duty exemption, ruling that recovery of duty without prior show cause notice did not violate natural justice principles under the "useless formality" doctrine. The Court held that procedural fairness aims at correct decisions but is not always contingent on statutory notice provisions. Since the exemption was nullified retrospectively by statute, the appellant was liable to refund the benefit without prejudice from non-issuance of notice. Section 154(4) allowed recovery within thirty days post Presidential assent, rendering the six-month limitation under Section 11A inapplicable. The decision reaffirmed prior rulings in R.C. Tobacco and J.K. Cotton, rejecting the appellant's plea and confirming the duty recovery against the assessee. Case-Laws Central Excise Thu, 14 May 2015 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=259626