21. As regards the reliance placed by the Ld. Departmental
Representative on the decision of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
v. CCE, Nasik, 2009 (242) E.L.T. 358 (Tri. - Mumbai), we observe
that the said judgment did not follow the already existing
coordinate bench decision of the Tribunal, Bangalore Bench in the
case of HPCL, which has been affirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court.
14. In our view, the Appellant and the other OMCs are independent
parties and are not related to each other. Though the SCN alleged
the mutuality of interest on the ground that the MoU entered into
between the parties benefitted each of them mutually, however, the
said ground was relinquished by the adjudicating authority itself,
while passing the impugned order. Further, even in our view,
merely entering into a mutually beneficial arrangement like MoU in
the instant case, cannot make the parties related for the purposes
of Section 4(3)(b)(iv) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. For this we
rely on the decision of the Tribunal, Bangalore Bench in the case of
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. V. Commissioner of C.
Ex., Visakhapatnam-I [2005 (187) E.L.T. 479 (Tri. - Bang.
Further, the said decision has already been dissented by the
Tribunal, Mumbai Bench itself, in the case of CCE, Mumbai-IV vs.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., 2014 (308) ELT 502 (Tri-Mumbai) and
even the subsequent decisions of the Tribunal have relied on HPCL's
case. Thus, we do not find the reliance of the Ld. Departmental
Representative to be legally correct.
Kochi Refineries Ltd. V. Commissioner of Central Excise,
Cochin [2017 (349) E.L.T. 338 (Tri. - Bang.)]
c. The impugned order drops the ground of mutuality of interest
which was the only basis for issuance of the SCNs. Further, the
impugned order is based on the grounds/ facts which are both
beyond the scope of SCN and are also incorrect. A para-wise
rebuttal of the impugned order is given by the appellant to
substantiate this contention.