HINDUSTAN LEVER LTD., Vs. CCE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant M/s. Hindustan Lever Ltd. (Appellant for short) is engaged in the manufacture of various products including various types of tea like flavored tea, tea with vitamins classifying the same under Sub Heading 0902.00 of the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. Appellant has factories located at different parts of the country. Appellant has been introducing various types of tea to satisfy taste preferences as well as price preferences of consumers. In 1996 appellants developed a new variant of tea by mixing regular tea with other low cost healthy agricultural inputs like jaggery, barley, chicory, tapioca etc. The resultant product was called as popular tea mixture by the appellants and it contained 70% tea and up to maximum 30% of jaggery or barley or chicory or tapioca or combination of some of these items. Appellant claimed classification of this popular tea mixture under CETH 0902.00 which read "tea, including tea waste".

(2.) Revenue took a view that such popular tea mixture manufactured in one of their factories located at Thundla in U.P. (also called appellant No. 1) is correctly classifiable under CETH 2101.20 and, after investigation, issue of show cause notice and adjudication process, impugned order has been passed whereby duty demand of Rs. 6,55,37,985/ - has been confirmed against the appellant with interest as applicable and penalty equal to the duty also has been imposed. Further, a penalty of Rs. 1,00,000/ - each has been imposed on the appellants Shri R.K. Raina and Shri R.K. Bagga, (two officers working with the company) under Rule 209A of Central Excise Rules, 1944.

(3.) In view of the above submission, he also submitted that no penalty could have been imposed on any of the appellants.