1960 (12) TMI 1
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....e of the accounts. From 1-10-1954 to 30-9-1955, the mill was leased out on contract to respondent 3. On 8-10-1956 respondent 1, the Superintendent of the Central Excise, Khammam Circle, Khammammeth, issued a notice of summary demand on the petitioner calling upon him to pay a sum of Rs. 8,633-10-0 as the oil seeds cess under the Indian Oil Seeds Committee Act (Act IX of 1946) (hereinafter referred to as Act) for the period beginning from 1-4-1950 to 30-9-1955. The petitioner sent letters to the 1st respondent denying his liability to pay the amount of demand. The petitioner thereafter filed an application, CMP 46/2/56 under Section 12(1) of the Act for cancellation of the assessment. The learned District Judge rejected the contentions of th....
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....ds crushed in any mill in the territories to which this Act extends whether the oil seeds are produced in or imported from outside the said territories a duty of excise at the rate of one anna per maund," and Section 10 so far as is relevant is as follows :- "S. 10.(1) : The owner of every mill shall furnish to the Collector, on or before the 7th day of each' month, a return stating the total amount of oils extracted in the mill during the preceding month, together with such further information in regard thereto as may be prescribed:" It is to be noticed that under Section 3 the cess is collected on all oils extracted from oil seeds crushed in any mill and under Section 10(1), it is the owner of the mill that should furnish the return to....
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....10 or furnishes a return which the Collector has reason to believe is incorrect or defective, the Collector shall assess the amount if any, payable by him in such manner as may be prescribed, and the provisions of Sub-section (1) shall thereupon apply as if such assessment had been made on the basis of a return furnished by the owner : Provided that, in the case of a return which he has reason to believe is incorrect or defective, the Collector shall not assess the duty of excise at an amount higher than that at which it is assessable on the basis of the return without giving to the owner a reasonable opportunity of proving the correctness and completeness of the return." The learned Counsel contends that reading Sections 10 and 11 togeth....
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.... in respect of which it is payable. The section is so worded because it has in contemplation the normal case, when the mill-holder complies with the terms of the Act. But the power of the Collector to make the assessment, so given, cannot be limited either by any defect in the return or even by the absence of any return". The principle of this decision was applied by the Madras High Court to the levy of contribution under the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act (II of 1927) in a case reported in HRE Board, Madras v. Sitaramacharyulu - 1942-II MLJ 732 - It was observed by Kuppuswami Ayyar J., at page 735 as follows :- "There is nothing in the scheme of the Hindu Religious Endowments Act to suggest that it was the intention of the Legisl....