TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (9) TMI 400
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.... of Rs. 2,27,98,495 towards differential duties of central excise under section 11A of Central Excise Act, 1944, along with applicable interest under section 11AA of Central Excise Act, 1945, and imposing penalty of like amount under section 11AC of Central Excise Act, 1944, is about the scope of expressions deployed in paragraph 6.8 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) when appended to notification under section 5A of Central Excise Act, 1944. The cross-over has occurred as the appellant, M/s Cipla Ltd, is a 'hundred percent export oriented unit (EOU)' issued with Letter of Permission under chapter 6 of the Foreign Trade Policy under the supervisory oversight of the jurisdictional Development Commissioner with jurisdictional central excise au....
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....ed with effecting clearances into the domestic market on payment of duties of central excise as set out in section 3 of Central Excise Act, 1944 which, in such instances, are the same as the duties arising had such goods been imported into India and upto half the value of exports. The computation of threshold eligibility for effecting such clearances, and subject to fixation by the Development Commissioner, is 'free on board (FOB)' value of exports being in excess of imported inputs consumed during the year combined with amortized, at 10%, value of imported capital goods. Taking into account the composition of duty liability, notification no. 23/2003-CE dated 31st March 2003 has scaled down the levy by half the 'basic customs duty (BCD' on ....
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....an exemption notification, is not amenable to unarticulated intent. 5. Before adverting to the averments on behalf of the appellant, a legal aspect deserves consideration in the context of strict interpretation espoused in the impugned order. Doubtlessly, the exemption has drawn upon section 5A of Central Excise Act, 1944 as authority. The peculiarity therein is that exemptions, in the ordinary course and unless specifically stated, are not available to units such as that of the appellant. Furthermore, such units are subjected to higher duty liability than manufacturers of the same goods elsewhere. It would, thus, appear that, within the Central Excise Act, 1944, a special place and special law has been carved out for such units as well ....
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....were also cited. 7. The decision of the Tribunal in Ginni International Ltd v. Commissioner of Central Excise, Jaipur [2002 (139) ELT 172 (Tri-Del)] pertains to computation of sale entitlement which is not in dispute here. In the decisions of the Tribunal, there is certainly passing reference to approval granted by Development Commissioner while according approval to the submission on behalf of respective assessees that they had been in compliance with the stipulations in the respective notifications. We are also conscious that our appellate jurisdiction, while statutorily endowed, is framed within orders of jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs and of jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs (Appeals) acting under the authority of law;....
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....nother agency that the stipulation comes into play. In the absence of any guide to interpretation of the unfamiliar, the adjudicating authority may, at best, have slight such authoritative clarification instead of arrogating that task to itself. In saying so, we are guided by the observation of the Tribunal in re Ginni International Ltd that '7. ........... We find force in the submission of the learned Counsel for the Appellants that once the Development Commissioner has allowed them the permission to sell the goods up to a fixed value in the DTA, the Revenue cannot disallow the clearance and demand Central Excise duty on the ground that the entitlement was required to be restricted to 50% of the FOB value of Physical Exports. If ....