BAJAJ AUTO LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The appeal raises the legal question of the liability towards National Calamity Contingent Duty (for short 'NCCD'), Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess of a manufacturing establishment, which is exempted from payment of Central Excise Duty (for short 'CENVAT') under the Central Excise Act , 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the '1944 Act').

(3.) In order to encourage development of industries and to generate employment in the States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, certain special measures were considered appropriate to be taken by the Government of India. On the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Uttarakhand, in March, 2002, an announcement was made that tax and Central Excise concessions, to attract investments in the industrial sector will be worked out for the Special Category States including Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand). The industries eligible for such incentives were to be environment friendly, with potential for local employment generation and use of local resources. Subsequently, an Office Memorandum was issued on 7.1.2003, announcing a package of incentives providing for "New Industrial Policy and other concessions for the State of Uttaranchal and the State of Himachal Pradesh." Para 3.1 (I) stipulated the fiscal incentives. It is not necessary to reproduce the complete paragraph, but suffice to reproduce the relevant portion as under: