BHARAT PETROLEUM CORPORATION Vs. CCE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application by M/s. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. for waiver of pre -deposit of Central Excise duty amounting to Rs. 27,00,666.

(2.) Shri Vinod Kumar, Deputy Manager, submitted that the applicants have network of marketing installations and depot throughout the country for marketing of petroleum products; that their warehouses at Shakur Basti received Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) in 23 tank wagons from Kandla Installation; that as per the quality control report of their laboratory, the product failed in the copper and silver strip corrosion and hence was declared as unit for marketing as ATF; that as their laboratory advised that the product could be marketed as SKO, they took a provisional permission from the Deputy Commissioner to remove the same on payment of duty. Now the Department has demanded the differential duty on the ground that the product has to be charged to duty as ATF. He, further, submitted that Sub -rule (2) of Rule 159 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, provides that where the rate of duty leviable upon any goods is determined by the use to which the goods are to be put after clearance from the warehouse, the goods shall be reassessed to duty at such rate if such rate is different from the rate at which the goods were assessed to duty when they were received in the warehouse; that in terms of provisions of this sub -rule, they are eligible to remove goods at the rate applicable to SKO as the product was to be used as SKO only; that the Additional Collector, Rajkot, in the case of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., on the same issue, has not confirmed the demand under his order dated 22.2.91 and as such there is a precedent,

(3.) Opposing the prayer, Shri H.C. Verma, learned DR, submitted that when the sample of the impugned product was sent to CRCL, they opined that it was ATF.