WIPRO LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner No. 1 is a public limited company and petitioner No. 2 is an employee and shareholder thereof. Petitioner -Company is engaged in the manufacture of vegetable products and toilet soaps. The present petition is concerned with vegetable products only. On 8/11/1990, the petitioner- Company claimed refund of an amount of Rs. 18,61,844.00 (Rupees Eighteen lacs sixtyone thousand eight hundred and fortyfour only) for short credit availed of by it for the period commencing from 1/03/198 7/08/1989. The Assistant Collector of Central Excise issued a show cause notice dated 8/03/1991 calling upon the petitioner-Company to show cause, inter alia, as to why the refund claim be not rejected both on merits and on the ground of limitation. The petitioner replied to the show cause notice on 3/04/1991. After hearing the parties, the Assistant Collector has rejected the refund claim as per his order dated 30/04/1991, produced at Annexure 'F' to the petition. The petitioner has challenged the legality and validity of the aforesaid order. In substance the petitioner has prayed for quashing and setting aside the aforesaid order and also prayed for direction commanding the respondent to permit the petitioner to take and utilise the short taken credit under Notification No. 27 of 1987 dated 1/03/1987.

(2.) The petitioner-Company is engaged in the manufacture of vegetable oil. The Government introduced money credit benefit scheme by introducing Sec. AAA and inserted Rule 57K to 57P in the Central Excises Rules with effect from 1/03/1987. Rule 57K empowers the Government to issue notification permitting the money credit to be taken by the manufacturer if the manufacturer uses certain raw materials in the manufacture of final products. The said money credit benefit would be available to manufacturers subject to the provisions of Rules 57K to 57P contained in Sec. AAA and the conditions if any that may be mentioned in the relevant notification. Under this provision, the Government issued Notification No. 27 of 1987 and specified certain fixed vegetable oil as input and Vanaspati falling under sub-heading No. 1504.00 as final product. The notification also provided the rates at which the money credit would be available in case the specified raw materials were used in the manufacture of final product. The conditions mentioned in the notification are as follows : "(i) the credit shall be taken only in respect of the quantity of oil subjected to hydrogenation on or after the 1st day of March, 1987 for the manufacture of the said final products and the credit shall be taken only on the date on which the oil has been so hydrogenated; (ii) the credit taken during any calender month shall be utilised for payment of duty on the said final products only after the commencement of the succeeding month: (iii) the quantity of credit utilised for payment of duty on any individual clearance of the said final products shall not exceed rupees one thousand per tonne of Vegetable products cleared and the excess credit, if any, available in Ihe credit account shall not be refunded to the manufacturer or adjusted against or utilised for payment of duty on any other excisable goods under any circumstance; (iv) where the description in column (2) of the Table specifies solvent extracted variety of the oil, the manufacturer shall within 5 months from the date of taking credit, or such extended period as the Asstt. Collector of Central Excise may allow in this behalf, produce a certificate from an officer not below the rank of Deputy Director in the Directorate of Vanaspati, Vegetable Oils and Fats in the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies of the Government of India to the effect that the said oil has been manufactured by the solvent extraction method; and (v) the credit shall be taken only in respect of indigenous inputs and the manufacturer shall produce such documents as may be required by the Assistant Collector of Central Excise in this regard;

(3.) It may be noted that the aforesaid conditions are in addition to the provisions of Sec. AAA of Chapter 5 of the Central Excises Rules, 1944. The aforesaid notification was withdrawn by Notification No. 39 of 1989 dated 25/08/1989. However, it was again reintroduced by Notification No. 45 of 1989 dated 11/10/1989.