The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed excise department's plea asking Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to pay Rs 17.57-crore differential duty on account of valuation of superior kerosene oil (SKO) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cleared via oil marketing companies.
A Bench headed by Justice SH Kapadia dismissed the department's plea seeking to levy duty on subsidy received from oil pool account cleared by RIL via oil marketing companies.
The revenue in its appeal alleged that the scrutiny of the records indicated that RIL had collected excess amounts over and above the amount on which central excise duty was paid from oil firms by using commercial invoices against the sale of goods.
It stated that the duty was paid by RIL on ex-destination price, as declared by the Oil Coordination Committee, on the petroleum cleared by the company through Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). It said RIL had transferred petroleum products through pipelines to oil companies and in certain cases the assessee had not produced re-warehousing certificate or proof of payment of duty in lieu of the re-warehousing.
The department had issued two notices in June 2005 and September 2005 demanding differential duty on account of excess collection between July 2000 and February 2005 on the ground that RIL had been clearing SHO and LPG (domestic) to the ultimate consumer via the PSU by paying duty on ex-destination price as against the transaction value.
Besides, the department while demanding differential duty to the extent of more than Rs 17.57 crore had asked the assessee to give proof of payment of duty for non-production of proof of re-warehousing certificates of clearances of petroleum products in transit.
However, the Commissioner in July 2006 while holding that the price of SKO and LPG as determined by the government cannot be the sole consideration for the sale of goods said the additional consideration flowing to the assessee was required to be added to the value of discharging duty liability. It had also confirmed the duty demand to the extent of over Rs 15.16 crore against Rs 17.57 crore.
The assessee's appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court in May 2008
Source:http://www.financialexpress.com/news/sc-seeks-reply-from-maha-govt-on-pepsicos-plea/594176/0
Labels: Reliance, Reliance Group, Reliance Industries, RIL