1993 (11) TMI 61 - HC - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
1. Challenge to orders dated 30th October, 1980 and 19th December, 1980 passed by Respondent No. 2.
2. Legality of the order dated 2nd February, 1983 rejecting petitioner's appeal on the ground of limitation.

Detailed Analysis:
The petitioner, a Private Limited company operating a factory in Bombay, was registered under the Companies Act, 1956, and as a Small Scale Industry. A show cause notice was issued in 1978 for alleged non-payment of excise duty. The Assistant Collector directed the petitioner to pay excise duty and imposed a fine. The Collector later set aside the recovery order but imposed a penalty and ordered confiscation of property. The Government of India disposed of the revision application setting aside the confiscation order but upholding the penalty. Subsequently, detention orders were passed in 1980 based on the Collector's order. The petitioner sought to challenge these detention orders but had not challenged the Collector's order or the Government's decision, which were prerequisites for challenging the detention orders. The court held that relief could not be granted regarding the detention orders without challenging the earlier orders.

Furthermore, the petitioner argued that exemption granted for a subsequent period showed compliance with conditions, but the court found this argument invalid as compliance for the relevant period was not established. The petitioner also requested consideration of the legality of the Collector's and Government's orders, which was rejected as the petitioner had not specifically challenged these binding orders despite being aware of them. Ultimately, the court concluded that the petitioner failed to establish a case for relief regarding the detention orders, leading to the dismissal of the petition without costs.