The Central Excise Act, 1944
[Act No. 1 of 1944]
[24th February, 1944]
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to
Central Duties of Excise
Chapter VII Supplemental Provisions
Section 37. Power of Central Government to
make rules. -
(1) The Central Government may make rules to carry into
effect the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality
of the foregoing power, such rules may -
(i) provide for determining under
Section 4 the nearest ascertainable equivalent of the normal
price;
(ia) having regard to the normal
practice of the wholesale trade, define or specify the kinds of
trade discount to be excluded from the value under Section4
including the circumstances in which and the conditions subject
to which such discount is to be so excluded;
(ib) provide for the assessment and
collectionof duties of excise, the authorities by whom functions
under this Act are to be discharged, the issue of notices
requiring payment, the manner in which the duties shall be
payable, and the recovery of duty not paid;
(ibb) provide for charging or
payment of interest on the differential amount of duty which
becomes payable or refundable upon finalisation of all or any
class of provisional assessments;
(ic) provide for the remission of
duty of excise leviable on any excisable goods, which due to any
natural cause are found to be deficient in quantity, the limit or
limits of percentage beyond which no such remission shall be
allowed and the different limit or limits of percentage for
different varieties of the same excisable goods or for different
areas or for different seasons;
(id) provide for the amount to be
paid for compounding and the manner of compounding under
sub-Section(2) of Section9A;
(ii) prohibit absolutely, or with
such exceptions, or subject to such conditions as the Central
Government thinks fit, the production or manufacture, or any
process of the production or manufacture, of excisable goods, or
of any component parts or ingredients or containers thereof,
except on land or premises approved for the purpose;
(iii) prohibit absolutely, or with
such exceptions, or subject to such conditions, as the Central
Government thinks fit, the [****] transit of excisable goods from
any part of India to any other part thereof;
(iv) regulate the removal of
excisable goods from the place where produced, stored or
manufactured or subjected to any process of production or
manufacture and their transport to or from the premises of a
registered person, or a bonded warehouse, or to a market;
(v) regulate the production or
manufacture, or any process of the production or manufacture, the
possession, storage and sale of salt, and so far as such
regulation is essential for the proper levy and collection of the
duties imposed by this Act, or of any other excisable goods, or
of any component parts or ingredients or containers thereof;
(vi) provide for the employment of
officers of the Government to supervise the carrying out of any
rules made under this Act;
(vii) require a manufacturer or the
licensee of a warehouse to provide accommodation within the
precincts of his factory or warehouse for officers employed to
supervise the carrying out of regulations made under this Act and
prescribe the scale of such accommodation;
(viii) provide for the appointment,
licensing, management and supervision of bonded warehouses and
the procedure to be followed in entering goods into and clearing
goods from such warehouses;
(ix) provide for the distinguishing
of goods which have been manufactured after registration, of
materials which have been imported under licence, and of goods on
which duty has been paid, or which are exempt from duty under
this Act;
(x) impose on persons engaged in
the production or manufacture, storage or sale (whether on their
own account or as brokers or commission agents) of salt, and, so
far as such imposition is essential for the proper levy and
collectionof the duties imposed by this Act, of any other
excisable goods, the duty of furnishing information, keeping
records and making returns, and prescribe the nature of such
information and the form of such records and returns, the
particulars to be contained therein, and the manner in which they
shall be verified;
(xi) require that excisable goods
shall not be sold or offered or kept for sale in India except in
prescribed containers, bearing a banderol, stamp or label of such
nature and affixed in such manner as may be prescribed;
(xii) provide for the issue of
registration certificate and transport permits and the fees, if
any, to be charged therefor :
Provided that the fees for the
licensing of the manufacture and refining of salt and saltpetre
shall not exceed, in the case of each such licence, the following
amounts, namely :-
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Rs.
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Licence to manufacture and refine saltpetre and to
separate and purify salt in the process of such manufacture
and refining.... ......
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50
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Licence to manufacture saltpetre
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2
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Licence to manufacture sulphate of soda (Kharinun) by
solar heat in evaporating pans
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10
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Licence to manufacture sulphate of soda (Kharinun)
by artificial heat ...
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2
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Licence to manufacture other saline substances ...
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2
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(xiii) provide for the detention of
goods, plant, machinery or material for the purpose of exacting
the duty, the procedure in connection with the confiscation,
otherwise than under Section10 or Section28, of goods in respect
of which breaches of the Act or rules have been committed and the
disposal of goods so detained or confiscated;
(xiiia) provide for withdrawal of
facilities or imposition of restrictions (including restrictions
on utilization of CENVAT credit) on manufacture or exporter or
suspension of registration of dealer, for dealing with evasion of
duty or misuse of CENVAT credit;
(xiv) authorise and regulate the
inspectionof factories and provide for the taking of samples, and
for the making of tests, of any substance produced therein, and
for the inspectionor search of any place or conveyance used for
the production, storage, sale or transport of salt, and so far as
such inspection or search is essential for the proper levy and
collectionof the duties imposed by this Act, of any other
excisable goods;
(xv) authorise and regulate the
composition of offences against, or liabilities incurred under
this Act or the rules made there under;
(xvi) provide for the grant of a
rebate of the duty paid on goods which are exported out of India
or shipped for consumption on a voyage to any port outside India
including interest thereon;
(xvia) provide for the credit of
duty paid or deemed to have been paid on the goods used in, or in
relation to the manufacture of excisable goods ;
(xviaa) provide for credit of
service tax leviable under Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 (32
of 1994) paid or payable on taxable services used in, or in
relation to, the manufacture of excisable goods;
(xvib) provide for the giving of
credit of sums of money with respect to raw materials used in the
manufacture of excisable goods ;
(xvic) provide for charging and
payment of interest as the case may be on credit of duty paid or
deemed to have been paid on the goods used in, or in relation to,
the manufacture of excisable goods where such credit is varied
subsequently;
(xvii) exempt any goods from the
whole or any part of the duty imposed by this Act;
(xviia) provide incentives for
increased production or manufacture of any goods by way of
remission of, or any concession with respect to, duty payable
under this Act;
(xviii) define an area no point in
which shall be more than one hundred yards from the nearest point
of any place in which salt is stored or sold by or on behalf of
the Central Government, or of any factory in which saltpetre is
manufactured or refined, and regulate the possession, storage and
sale of salt within such area;
(xix) define an area round any
other place in which salt is manufactured and regulate the
possession, storage and sale of salt within such area;
(xx) authorise the Central Board of
Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of
Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963) or Commissioners of Central Excise
appointed for the purposes of this Act to provide, by written
instructions, for supplemental matters arising out of any rule
made by the Central Government under this Section;
(xxi) provide for the publication,
subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, of names
and other particulars of persons who have been found guilty of
contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule
made thereunder;
(xxii) provide for the charging of
fees for the examination of excisable goods intended for export
out of India and for rendering any other service by a Central
Excise Officer under this Act or the rules made thereunder;
(xxiii) specify the form and manner
in which application for refund shall be made under Section11B;
(xxiv) provide for the manner in
which money is to be credited to the Fund;
(xxv) provide for the manner in
which the Fund shall be utilised for the welfare of the
consumers;
(xxvi) specify the form in which
the account and records relating to the Fund shall be maintained;
(xxvii) specify the persons who
shall get themselves registered under Section6 and the manner of
their registration.
(xxviii) provide for the lapsing of
credit of duty lying unutilised with the manufacturer of
specified excisable goods on an appointed date and also for not
allowing such credit to be utilised for payment of any kind of
duty on any excisable goods on and from such date.
(2A) The power to make rules conferred by clause (xvi) of
sub-Section(2) shall include the power to give retrospective
effect to rebate of duties on inputs used in the export goods
from a date not earlier than the changes in the rates of duty on
such inputs.
(3) In making rules under this Section, the Central
Government may provide that any person committing a breach of any
rule shall, where no other penalty is provided by this Act, be
liable to a penalty not exceeding five thousand rupees.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-Section(3),
and without prejudice to the provisions of Section 9, in making rules under this Section, the Central
Government may provide that if any manufacturer, producer or
licensee of a warehouse -
a) removes any excisable goods in contravention of the
provisions of any such rule, or
b) does not account for all such goods manufactured,
produced or stored by him, or
c) engages in the manufacture, production or storage of
such goods without having applied for the registration required
under Section6, or
d) contravenes the provisions of any such rule with intent
to evade payment of duty, then, all such goods shall be liable to
confiscation and the manufacturer, producer or licensee shall be
liable to a penalty not exceeding the duty leviable on such goods
or two thousand rupees, whichever is greater;
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-Section(3),
the Central Government may make rules to provide for the
imposition upon any person who acquires possession of, or is in
any way concerned in transporting, removing, depositing, keeping,
concealing, selling or purchasing, or in any other manner deals
with, any excisable goods which he knows or has reason to believe
are liable to confiscation under this Act or the rules made
thereunder, a penalty not exceeding the duty leviable on such
goods or two thousand rupees, whichever is greater.
Section 37A. Delegation of powers. -
The Central Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette direct that subject to such conditions, if any, as may be
specified in the notification -
a) any power exercisable by the Board under this Act may be
exercisable also by a Principal Chief Commissioner of Central
Excise or Chief Commissioner of Central Excise or a Principal
Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise
empowered in this behalf by the Central Government;
b) any power exercisable by a Principal Commissioner
of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise under this
Act may be exercisable also by a Joint Commissioner of Central
Excise or an Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy
Commissioner of Central Excise empowered in this behalf by the
Central Government;
c) any power exercisable by a Joint Commissioner of Central
Excise under this Act may be exercisable also by an Assistant
Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central
Excise empowered in this behalf by the Central Government; and
d) any power exercisable by an Assistant Commissioner of
Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise under
this Act may be exercisable also by a gazetted officer of Central
Excise empowered in this behalf by the Board.
Section37B. Instructions to Central Excise
Officers. -
The Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under
the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963), may, if it
considers it necessary or expedient so to do for the purpose of
uniformity in the classification of excisable goods or with
respect to levy of duties of excise on such goods or for the
implementation of any other provision of this Act, issue such
orders, instructions and directions to the Central Excise
Officers as it may deem fit, and such officers and all other
persons employed in the execution of this Act shall observe and
follow such orders, instructions and directions of the said Board
:
Provided that no such orders,
instructions or directions shall be issued-
a) so as to require any Central Excise Officer to make a
particular assessment or to dispose of a particular case in a
particular manner; or
b) so as to interfere with the discretion of the
Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) in the exercise of his
appellate functions.
Section 37C. Service of decisions, orders,
summons, etc. -
(1) Any decision or order passed or any summons or notices
issued under this Act or the rules made thereunder, shall be
served, -
a) by tendering the decision,
order, summons or notice, or sending it by registered post with
acknowledgment due, or by speed post with proof of delivery or by
courier approved by the Central Board of Excise and Customs
constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of
1963) to the person for whom it is intended or his authorised
agent, if any;
b) if the decision, order, summons
or notice cannot be served in the manner provided in clause (a),
by affixing a copy thereof to some conspicuous part of the
factory or warehouse or other place of business or usual place of
residence of the person for whom such decision, order, summons or
notice, as the case may be, is intended;
c) if the decision, order, summons
or notice cannot be served in the manner provided in clauses (a)
and (b), by affixing a copy thereof on the notice board of the
officer or authority who or which passed such decision or order
or issued such summons or notice.
(2) Every decision or order passed or any summons or notice
issued under this Act or the rules made thereunder, shall be
deemed to have been served on the date on which the decision,
order, summons or notice is tendered or delivered by post or
courier referred to in sub-section (1) or a copy thereof is
affixed in the manner provided in sub-Section(1).
Section37D. Rounding off of duty, etc. -
The amount of duty, interest, penalty, fine or any other
sum payable, and the amount of refund or any other sum due, under
the provisions of this Act shall be rounded off to the nearest
rupee and, for this purpose, where such amount contains a part of
a rupee consisting of paise then, if such part is fifty paise or
more, it shall be increased to one rupee and if such part is less
than fifty paise it shall be ignored.
Section37E. Publication of information
respecting persons in certain cases. -
(1) If the Central Government is of opinion that it is
necessary or expedient in the public interest to publish the
names of any person and any other particulars relating to any
proceedings or prosecutions under this Act in respect of such
person, it may cause to be published such names and particulars
in such manner as it thinks fit.
(2) No publication under this Sectionshall be made in
relation to any penalty imposed under this Act until the time for
presenting an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) under Section
35 or the Appellant Tribunal under Section 35B, as the case may
be, has expired without an appeal having been presented or the
appeal, if presented, has been disposed of.
Explanation. - In the case of firm, company or other
association of persons, the names of the partners of the firm,
directors, managing agents, secretaries and treasures or managers
of the company, or the members of the association, as the case
may be, may also be published if, in the opinion of the Central
Government, circumstances of the case justify it.
Section38. Publication of rules and
notifications and laying of rules before Parliament. -
(1) All rules made and notifications issued under this Act
shall be published in the Official Gazette.
(2) Every rule made under this Act, every notification
issued under Section 3A, Section 4A, sub-Section(1) of Section5A,
Section5B and Section11C and every order made under
sub-Section(2) of Section5A, other than an order relating to
goods of strategic, secret, individual or personal nature, shall
be laid, as soon as may be after it is made or issued, before
each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total
period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session, or
in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of
the session immediately following the session or the successive
sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification
in the rule or notification or order, or both Houses agree that
the rule should not be made or notification or order should not
be issued or made, the rule or notification or order shall
thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no
effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such
modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done under that rule or
notification or order.
Section 38A. Effect of amendments, etc., of
rules, notifications or orders. -
Where any rule, notification or order made or issued under
this Act or any notification or order issued under such rule, is
amended, repealed, superseded or rescinded, then, unless a
different intention appears, such amendment, repeal, supersession
or rescinding shall not -
a) revive anything not in force or existing at the time at
which the amendment, repeal, supersession or rescinding takes
effect; or
b) affect the previous operation of any rule, notification
or order so amended, repealed, superseded or rescinded or
anything duly done or suffered thereunder; or
c) affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability
acquired, accrued or incurred under any rule, notification or
order so amended, repealed, superseded or rescinded; or
d) affect any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in
respect of any offence committed under or in violation of any
rule, notification or order so amended, repealed, superseded or
rescinded; or
e) affect any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in
respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability,
penalty, forfeiture or punishment as aforesaid,
and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may
be instituted, continued or enforced and any such penalty,
forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if the rule,
notification or order, as the case may be, had not been amended,
repealed, superseded or rescinded.
Section 39. Repeal of enactments. -
Repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1947 (2 of
1948) s.2 and Sch.
Section40. Protection of action taken under the
Act. -
(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall
lie against the Central Government or any officer of the Central
Government or a State Government for anything which is done, or
intended to be done, in good faith, in pursuance of this Act or
any rule made thereunder.
(2) No proceeding, other than a suit, shall be commenced
against the Central Government or any officer of the Central
Government or a State Government for anything done or purported
to have been done in pursuance of this Act or any rule made
thereunder, without giving the Central Government or such officer
a month's previous notice in writing of the intended proceeding
and of the cause thereof or after the expiration of three months
from the accrual of such cause.
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