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TMI Blog1993 (4) TMI 66X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... id imposition alive and effective till the date of the repeal of the Cess Act. In the face of the said statutory provisions, no rights can be founded nor can the levy of the cess be said to have been dispensed with by virtue of the alleged decision referred to in the Finance Minister's speech or on account of the letter dated August 11, 1986. The Finance Minister's speech is not law. The Parliament may or may not accept his proposal. Indeed, in this case, it did not accept the said proposal immediately but only a year later. It is only from the date of the repeal that the said levy becomes inoperative. Coming to the argument based upon Rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules read with Section 3(4) of the Cess Act it is totally unacceptable. No notification has been issued under Rule 8(1) by the Central Government - much less was any such notification published in the Gazette. No special order has also been made by the Central Board of Excise and Customs in this behalf under Rule 8(2). The cess imposed under Section 3(1) of the Cess Act, it may be remembered, is a duty of Excise as stated in Section 3 itself. To repeat, the power of exemption cannot be utilised to dispense with the ve ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (C) No. 164, W.P. (C) No. 271, W.P. (C) No. 724, W.P. (C) No. 71, W.P. (C) No. 31, W.P. (C) No. 164 of 1989, W.P. (C) No. 220 of 1990, W.P. (C) No. 12020, W.P. (C) No. 47880, W.P. (C) No. 47881, W.P. (C) No. 47882, W.P. (C) No. 47883, W.P. (C) No. 47884, W.P. (C) No. 47885 of 1985, W.P. (C) No. 855 Altaf Ahmed, Additional Solicitior-General, M.L. Verma, G.L. Sanghi and K. Lahfri, Senior Advocates, (Sarva Mitter, Sh. Narain, S. Bhattacharya, Vivek Gambhir, S.K. Gambhir, Vijay Hansaria, P.Parmeswaram, P.K. Jain, Rajiv Dutta, M.N. Shriff, Ms. A. Subhashini, Ms. Pratibha Jain, L.K. Gupta, M.A. Firoz, Naresh K.sharma, A.K. Goel, Ashok K. Mahajan, Ms. Sushma Suri and Kailash Vasdev), Advocates, With them, for the appearing partise. [Judgment per: B.P. Jeevan Reddy, J.]. - The petitioners in this batch of writ petitions question the validity of the levy and collection of cess under Section 3 of the Vegetable Oils Cess Act, 1983 for the period commencing 1st March, 1986 and ending with 31st March, 1987. 2. Parliament enacted in the year 1983 the National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board Act, 1983 (being Act 29 of 1983) hereinafter referred to as the Board ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... llections as it thought fit for being utilised for the purposes of the Board. Section 7 amended certain provisions of the Produce Cess Act, 1966. 4. It is thus clear that the cess, which is called a duty of excise, levied under Section 3 of the Cess Act was intended to serve the purposes of the Board Act. The said cess was accordingly levied and collected on and from 1983. The Cess Act was, however, repealed by Section 12 of the Cotton, Copra and Vegetable Oils Cess (Abolition) Act, 1987 (being Act 4 of 1987), hereinafter referred to as the Repeal Act. Chapter IV of the Repeal Act provides for the repeal inter alia of the Vegetable Oils Cess Act, 1983. Section 12 is the repealing section. Chapter V, containing only one section namely Section 13, is relevant for purposes. Chapter V carries the heading "COLLECTION OF ARREARS OF DUTIES OF EXCISE". Section 13 reads as follows : "13. Collection and payment of arrears of duties of excise. - Notwithstanding anything contained in the amendments made to the Produce Cess Act, 1966 (15 of 1966) or the repeal of the Copra Cess Act, 1979 (4 of 1979) or the Vegetable Oils Cess Act, 1983 (30 of 1983). by this Act, any duty of excise, levied ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... count of the decision to dispense with the cess on vegetable oils among others. This Speech made on the floor of the Lok Sabha speaks of a decision already taken by the Government and is enforceable and effective from the said date. (2) In pursuance of the said decision of the Government of India, the Directorate of Vanaspati, Vegetable Oils and Fats addressed the letter dated August 11, 1986 to the Commissioner (Tax Research), Department of Revenue, New Delhi asking him to issue instructions to all concerned indicating that the cess on vegetable oils has been dispensed with and as such the cess shall not be collected. It was further directed that the cess collected, if any, since April 1, 1986 shall be refunded. A copy of this letter was sent to the President, Central Organisation for Oil Industries and Trade, Bombay. 8. Counsel for the petitioners S/Shri M.L. Verma and G.L. Sanghi urged the following contentions: (a) The Budget Speech of the Finance Minister delivered on the floor of the Lok Sabha constitutes an enforceable and effective decision upon which the petitioners were entitled to act. The said decision was exemplified and implemented by way of a communication from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cted, shall be collected according to law as if the Cess Act is not repealed. This provision amounts to a positive affirmation of the intention of the Parliament to keep the said imposition alive and effective till the date of the repeal of the Cess Act. In the face of the said statutory provisions, no rights can be founded nor can the levy of the cess be said to have been dispensed with by virtue of the alleged decision referred to in the Finance Minister's speech or on account of the letter dated August 11, 1986. The Finance Minister's speech is not law. The Parliament may or may not accept his proposal. Indeed, in this case, it did not accept the said proposal immediately but only a year later. It is only from the date of the repeal that the said levy becomes inoperative. 10. Now coming to the argument based upon Rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules read with Section 3(4) of the Cess Act, we find it totally unacceptable. No notification has been issued under Rule 8(1) by the Central Government - much less was any such notification published in the Gazette. No special order has also been made by the Central Board of Excise and Customs in this behalf under Rule 8(2). The cess impo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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