Balaji Paper Boards (P) Ltd. And Premier ... vs Collector Of Central Excise on 8 October, 1998
Various provisions in the Act and in the Rules regarding recovery proceedings have to be read together. Section 11A starts with the stage when any duty of excise has not been levied or paid or has been short levied or short paid. It does not provide for the levy, payment and collection of duty. It does not provide for assessment which determines whether the levy is short or complete. Assessment is the actual procedure adopted in fixing the liability to pay the duty in respect of particular goods and by particular person or persons, as well as for determining the amount to be paid [(refer paras-20 and 21 of Asstt. Collector of Central Excise, Calcutta v. National Tobacco Co. of India Ltd. .] Under that judgment, the Supreme Court had clearly brought out that the procedure under the earlier Rule 10 presupposed an assessment (para 19). It is the process of assessment that really determines whether the levy is short or complete (para 21). Both the Rules 10 and 10A as they stood at the relevant time dealt with collection and not with assessment (para 23).