2004 (10) TMI 369 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues: Application for waiver of pre-deposit of duty and penalty arising from the order of the Commissioner (Appeals) regarding the availability of benefits under specific notifications for certain products.

The judgment addresses the application for waiver of pre-deposit of duty and penalty amounting to Rs. 78,07,971.43, arising from the Commissioner (Appeals)'s order confirming the demand on products falling under Chapters 27, 34, and 38 of CETA, 1985. The Commissioner held that the benefit of Notification No. 287/86 for 'speciality oil' and Notification No. 120/84 for 'lubricating oil' was not available to specific products due to not meeting the blending requirements specified in the notifications. The products were obtained by straight blending of mineral oils, which did not fulfill the conditions necessitated by the notifications.

Upon hearing both sides, the Tribunal found a strong prima facie case for waiver of pre-deposit of duty and penalty. The Tribunal referred to previous decisions, notably the case of Commissioner of Central Excise, Calcutta v. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., where blending was interpreted as straight blending of mineral oils. The Tribunal also cited the case of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. v. Commissioner of Central Excise, emphasizing that lubricating oils obtained by straight blending of mineral oil were covered by the description in Notification No. 120/84. Consequently, the Tribunal decided to dispense with the pre-deposit of duty and penalty and stayed the recovery pending the appeal.

Given that the appeal dated back to 1999, the Tribunal scheduled the hearing for 10-12-2004 to address the matter comprehensively and make a final determination on the issues raised regarding the availability of benefits under the specific notifications for the products in question.