9911796707
TMI Blog1966 (12) TMI 9X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itioner is the well known Tata Iron and Steel Company of Jamshedpur engaged in the manufacture of iron, steel and allied products. Steel ingots produced by the firm are liable to pay Central Excise duty but the Government of India, under notification No. GSR 75 of 1962 dated the 24th April, 1962, exempted from such duty those steel ingots "if produced out of old iron or steel scrap or scrap obtained from duty paid steel ingots or products". The Scheme of the exemption is clear. Though on the first production of steel ingots excise duty is payable, nevertheless if those steel ingots have been manufactured out of steel scrap obtained from steel ingots or products on which excise duty had previously been paid, the new steel ingots made out of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oner no such appeal was filed because the petitioner accepted as correct the interpretation of notification No. 75 of 1962 as given in that order. It then filed a fresh application for refund on the 31st January 1964 in paragraph 3 of which it was stated as follows : "We have accordingly revised our claim for refund of ingot duty on the basis of the quantity of ingots produced out of these duty paid scraps". The amount of the refund claimed was reduced to Rs. 2,80,593.44 np. It will thus be noticed that the second claim for refund was made on the basis of the interpretation laid down by the Assistant Collector himself and it was expressly asserted that the claim for refund was made in respect of those ingots which were produced "out of duty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not see any reason for referring this point to a larger Bench. 4.But in that judgment, the Bench pointed out that the Central Excise authorities exercise quasi-judicial functions while assessing certain articles to excise duty and in disposing of appeals and revisions against such assessment. It was further held that if the tentative assessment fixed by the Excise authority is challenged by an assessee, he should be given a reasonable opportunity to prove by affidavits or otherwise that the rate of duty levied against him was not justified in law, or else that he was exempted from payment of duty, as the case may be. The Bench went further and observed that an aggrieved party should be given an opportunity for personal hearing also. This ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... V) was not at all judicial. He did not study the contents of the second application for refund but merely referred to his previous order dated 5-11-1963 (Annexure III) and left it to the party to appeal against that order. What he obviously missed was that the party did not feel aggrieved by the previous order dated 5-11-1963 and purported to make a second claim for refund on the basis of the interpretation given in the previous order. It is true that in the second paragraph of the order dated 5-11-1963 the Asstt. Collector definitely held that on the statement of the petitioner it was clear that the melting scraps were pre-excise stock on which ingot duty had not been paid. This observation, however, will not ordinarily amount to res-judic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) and the revisional order of the Government of India (Annexure VII). Neither of these authorities has carefully gone into the claim of the petitioner and scrutinised the contents on which the claim for refund was made. 6.A preliminary objection was raised against the maintainability of this writ petition on the ground that the petitioner has already filed a money suit (Money Suit No. 62 of 1966) in the court of the Subordinate Judge, Jamshedpur, for refund of the excise duty said to have been paid. It is true that ordinarily when the alternative remedy of a civil suit has been availed of, it will not be proper for this Court to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. But the civil court's jurisdicti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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