2003 (2) TMI 136

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..... found to be in violation of the mandatory provisions of Rule 49 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. The matter accordingly stood remanded to the Commissioner. Pursuant to the remand order, the Commissioner passed order dated 15-5-2002 after considering the available records and the submissions made by the party at the time of personal hearing. The remission application of the party was rejected as per the said order of the Commissioner. Hence, the present appeal. 2. The adjudicating authority rejected the claim for remission of duty on the following grounds :- (a) The accident was not intimated by the claimant to the Central Excise authorities within 24 hrs., as required under Trade Notice No. 206/84, dated 1-12-84. (b) The .....

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..... ver reimbursement of such duty. Referring to the Commissioner's observations as to precautions which should have been taken to avert the accident, counsel submits that it was not within the scope of proceedings of the Commissioner to enquire into such things while examining a claim for remission of duty. Counsel seeks to draw support to this plea from the Tribunal's decision in Ganeshwar Ltd. v. CCE, Allahabad [2002 (141) E.L.T. 654]. 5. Ld. DR endeavours to justify the impugned order. He submits, that the Trade Notice prescribed a procedure for filing such remission applications as the one in question and, accordingly, the claimant should have reported the accident strictly within 24 hrs. In this connection, he denies the counsel's claim .....

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..... hat the accident took place in the night of 8th and 9th of June, 1996, that the 9th of June, 1996 was a Sunday and that the incident was reported to the Central Excise authorities on 10th of June, 1996 at 10 AM. No evidence is available on record to show that on Sunday there was any duly authorised officer in the Central Excise office to receive the remission application. The provisions of the Trade Notice have to be construed in keeping with the reality that, on Sundays, the Central Excise Offices do not work. The General Clauses Act permits exclusion of the holiday from the period in a computation of the period as prescribed under the Trade Notice. Construed in this manner, the intimation given by the party at 10 AM on the 10th of June, 1 .....

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