Case Law Details
M.K Jokai Agri Plantations (P) Ltd Vs Union of India (Gauhati High Court)
The pleaded case of the petitioner is that the Government of India by the ‘North East Industrial Policy’ (NEIP), 1997 announced a new package of fiscal incentives and other concessions for the North East region by the said policy. The various incentives announced and promised for the new Industrial Units as well as the Industrial Units undergoing substantial expansions were with effect from 01.04.1997. As per the said Notification No. 33/99-CE dated:- 08.07.1999 all Industrial Units existing before 24.12.1997 and which undertake substantial expansion by way of increase in installed capacity by not less than 25% on or after 24.12.1997 were eligible for all the exemptions contained in the said Notification. It was provided by the said Notification that for the purposes of claiming the exemptions, the manufacturers/Industries shall submit statement of duty paid from the current account to the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner Central Excise by the 7th of the following month and the amount claimed, after due verification, shall be refunded by the Central Excise department by the 15th of the next month.
The petitioner company in terms of the said Notifications undertook substantial expansion to the extent of 25% in the Tea Estate, namely, Muttuck Tea Estate (petitioner No. 2) and returns were filed in the form of RT/12 for the month of July 1999 to March 2003 showing that the duty paid as per the Notification No. 33/99-CE. However, in the year 2001 because of a fire which broke out in the Head Office of Company situated in Doom Dooma in the State of Assam, the relevant records and the correspondences of the company including documents substantiating the substantial expansion were all gutted in the fire. It is stated that the said incident was officially communicated to the Superintendent of Central Excise and Customs.
The refund of excise duty was claimed for the petitioner No. 2, for the periods from July 1999 to March 2003. The application seeking refund was duly supported by the inventory of machines and equipments for the pre and the post expansion periods duly certified by a Chartered Engineer showing the substantial expansions made. The claims of the refund by the petitioners were objected to by the department by issuing a show-cause Notice dated:- 12.01.2010. The petitioners replied to the show-cause by its reply dated:- 28.06.2010. However, the Assistant Commissioner Central Excise, Dibrugarh vide order dated:- 09.07.2010 disallowed the claims of refund of the petitioners in respect of the petitioner no.2 amounting to Rs.39,33,061/- (Rupees Thirty Nine Lakh Thirty Three Thousand Sixty One only) holding the same to be time barred.
Held by High Court
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