Circular No. 102dated 22^nd February 1995

I am directed to say that the Annual Budget of the Central Government for the Financial Year 1995-96 is likely to be presented to Parliament on the 15th March 1995.

2.     The procedural restriction envisaged in sub-rule (2) and 2 (A) of rule 224, read with sub-rule (2) of rule 173G of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, regarding removal of excisable goods after 6 P.M. on the day preceding the Budget Day and also on the Budget Day, should be strictly enforced on all assessees, including those working under Self Removal Procedure. It is once again including those working under Self Removal Procedure. It is once again reiterated that the scheme of Record Based Control and Production Based Control are comprised in Self Removal Procedure. Therefore, instructions contained in Chapter 7 of the Self Removal Procedure handbook (Corrected) should be scrupulously followed. These instructions should be impressed upon the field staff so that they are thoroughly familiar with them for their implementation. Assessees should be made aware of the fact that after 6 P.M. on the day preceding the Budget day and also on the Budget Day, the Self Removal Procedure remains suspended and that they are required to discharge certain obligations and observe some of the formalities.

3.     You should make arrangements well in time to designate an officer as 'proper officer' in respect of a factory or a group of factories so that he is in a position to receive -

(i)     Advance applications for clearance on Budget Day which are required to be filed before 5P.M.on the working day immediately preceding the Budget Day i.e. 14.3.1595.

(ii)    Intimations regarding particulars of last AR 1/ Invoice in the prescribed form on the day preceding the Budget Day 14.3.1995 and to send these to the Assessment Range/ DivisionalOffice that very day alongwith AR1 applications received in advance, for clearance on BudgetDay.

(iii)   to supervise removals, countersigning the invoice and make entries in PLA on the BudgetDayitself.

4.     As an Anti-Evasion measure, you may select about 10% of the units depending upon the commodity manufactured and reputation of the assessee and depute suitable proper officers for causing verification of stock of the such factories at 5.00 P.M. on the Budget Day. The officers may be advised to send the results of such verification immediately by name to the Range and the Divisional Officer.

5.     In addition to the above restrictions, attention is also invited to the provisions contained in sub-rule (1) of rule 224 and in rule 173G (2) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. Provisions of sub-rule (1) of rule 224 should be enforced in respect of removal of any goods after 6.00 P.M. on the day preceding the Budget day i.e. 14.3.1995. After 6.00 PM on 14.3.1995 no goods can be delivered from a factory or a warehouse except with the permission of the Collector and under such conditions and on payment of such overtime fees/ supervision charges as may be required. All clearance after 6.00 P.M. on the day preceding the budget Day, i.e. 14.3.1995 should be supervised by the proper officer deputed to a factory or a group of factories a indicated in para 3 above.

6.

(i)     As required under rule 223-B, all the assessees should intimate to the Superintendent incharge of their range, with a copy to the proper officer (a) the number of last invoice issued by them upto 6.00 P.M. on the day preceding the Budget Day and (b) the closing balance ofstock held by them at 6.00 P.M. on that day. The declaration form for furnishing the aboveparticulars is enclosed, Penal action under sub-rule (2) of rule 223B should be takenagainstthose assessees who fail to give such declaration or furnish wrong informationtherein.

(ii)    The information regarding the last invoice issued and the closing balance of the stocks heldby the assessees at 6.00 P.M. on the day preceding the Budget Day, should be furnishedby hand by the assessees in the Range Office in cases where their factories are located atthe Range Headquarters. Other assessees whose factories or warehouses are situatedaway from the Range Headquarters may be given an option to send the declaration eitherby hand on 14.3.95 or through telegram, which should be despatched by them on 14.3.95.Arrangements should also be made in the Range Office to issue acknowledgments for allsuch receipts in case of hand deliveries. In cases where the information is sent throughtelegrams, the assessees should be advised to keep with them the receipts of the telegramsent by them so that these are available for inspection, wherever felt necessary by theproper officer.

(iii)   Provisions of rule 223 B may not be invoked in respect of the manufacturers working undercompounded levy scheme. They are already exempt from the provisions of rule 224.

7.

(i)     Your attention is invited to the Explanation and the first proviso to sub-rule (2) of rule 224. Aperson can file an application even with regard to those goods, which may come intoexistence at any time after the filing of the application. However, for acknowledgment (acceptance of the said application for purpose of sub-rule (2)), powers have been given tothe Collector to prescribe the terms, conditions and limitations; the fulfilment of which willbe necessary for the said acknowledgment/ acceptance.

(ii)    Application in relation to goods which are not yet in existence may be accepted  (acknowledged) in the following situations namely:

(a)   for removal of goods which are utilised within the same factory for further manufacture,or which are cleared to an adjacent factory as part of a continuesprocess;

(b)   in respect of factories having round- the -clock despatches, for example, cementfactories and major steel plants; their despatches being dependent on allotment ofrailway wagons, carrying capacity of the wagons and movement of the loadedwagonsby the railways,

(c)   for petroleum products cleared through pipe-lines and petroleum products required for re-fuelling coastal and foreign going vessels and air-crafts:

(d)   in cases of clearances necessary to maintain essential services, and

(f)    in respect of removal for exports.

(iii)   In the above situations, with regard to goods which are yet to come into existence as wellas goods which are already in existence, if may be difficult for an assessee to accuratelyforesee the quantity of goods likely to be removed by him on the Budget Day for purposes of submitting advance applications of removal on the working day preceding the BudgetDay. In such cases, the Collector may permit the assessee to furnish in advance, a provisional application for removal for the approximate quantity of goods likely to beremoved on the Budget Day. However, such assessee should furnish on the day followingthe Budget Day the final application for removal of the exact quantity of goods removed.

8.     In respect of relaxation's granted in terms of para 7 above, a report should be sent to the Ministry for the information indicating the names of the assesses, the names and quantities of commodities involved and the reasons for granting the relaxations.

9.     Rule 224 (2A) governs removal after 5.00 P.M. on the Budget Day. Such removals can take place only with the permission of the Central Government and after the assesses have furnished the necessary undertaking etc., as required under this rule, to pay duty at the enhanced rate if any; that may be applicable to such goods. In the interest of expeditious grant of such permission in deserving case, it has been decided that the Collector may grant such permission in the situations referred to in para 7 above an even in the case of goods that will come into existence after presentation of the application.

10.   Before granting the relaxation as under para 7 & 9 above, Collector should satisfy himself not only as to the bona fides of the case but also see to it whether it is a deserving case. The power to grant such relaxation should be exercised by the Collector himself. In the Collectorates where no regular Collector has been posted and which, are under the charge of a Collector holding additional charge, the Additional Collector/ Deputy Collector may grant the relaxations in such bona fide and deserving cases. But relaxations thus granted should be brought to the notice of the collector concerned and his approval should be immediately taken.

11.   In respect of relaxations/ permissions granted in terms of para 9 above, Collector should send a report to the Ministry within a week of the presentation of Budget regarding the relaxation granted by him and obtain the Central Government's ex-post-facto approval. The report should, inter alia, state names of the assesses, description and quantity of commodities involved reasons for granting the relaxations, whether there was any enhancement of the rate of duty and if so, the details of recovery of the differential duty, and reasons for non-recovery of differential duty, if any.

12.   Please acknowledge the receipt of this letter immediately by return telex.

ENCLOSURE

DECLARATION OF STOCK ETC. ON PRE- BUDGET DAY BY MANUFACTURER WORKING UNDER S.R.P.

1.     Name of Licensee:

2.     L.4 Licence No.:

3.     Commodity:

I/ We hereby declare that the serial number of last invoice/ invoices issued by me/ us and the balance in band of the excisable goods manufactured by me/ us on the date* __________ at 6.00 P.M. was/ were as under:

Certified that the particulars given above are correct.

Place: ________________

Date: _________________

Signature of the assessee or his authorised agent _________________________________

*One day prior to the presentations of annual/ supplementary budget of the Union Government.

Handed over to Superintendent/ Assistant Collector of Central Excise on __________________ at _____________________