Amendments of Act I of 1944
9. The following amendments shall be made in the
Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (I of 1944), namely:-
(1) in section 3,-
(a) for sub-section (4) the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(4) With the prior approval of the Government, the National Board of Revenue may, in lieu of levying and collecting under sub-section (1) duties of excise on excisable goods and services, by notification in the official Gazette, levy and collect duties on the capacity of plants, machinery, undertakings, establishments, installations or premises producing or manufacturing such goods, or providing or rendering such services; and such notifications shall specify-
(a) the guiding principles for the determination of capacity,
(b) the capacity, as determined in accordance with such guiding principles of the plants, machinery, undertakings, establishments, installations or premises affected by it,
(c) the duty or the rate of duty on such capacity as determined, and
(d) the manner of collection of such duty.”;
(b) for sub-section (5) the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(5) The capacity of any plant or machinery or part thereof or establishments or premises producing or manufacturing excisable goods, or providing or rendering excisable services, specified in a notification under sub-section (4) shall, upon an application made to the Government within thirty days of the notification by any aggrieved person, be reviewed by a Standing Tribunal constituted under sub-section (6) to which the application shall be referred; and the decision of the Standing Tribunal confirming, reducing or increasing the capacity shall be final.”;
(2) in section 12, after the word and figure “section 3” at the end, the words, figure and letter “or section 3A” shall be inserted;
(3) in section 35, in sub-section (1), in the first proviso, for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be added, namely:-
“Provided further that the appellate authority may admit an appeal after the expiration of the aforesaid period, not exceeding two months from the date of such expiration, if he is satisfied that the appellant has sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period.”;
(4) in section 36, in the first proviso, for the full stop at the end a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be added, namely:-
“Provided further that the Government may admit an application after the expiration of the aforesaid period, not exceeding one hundred and twenty days from the date of such expiration, if the Government is satisfied that the appellant has sufficient cause for not presenting the application within that period.”;
(5) after section 36, the following new section 36A shall be inserted, namely:-
“36A. Appearance by authorised representative.- (1) Any person who is entitled or required to attend before any excise officer, an appellate authority, Standing Tribunal, the National Board of Revenue, or the Government in any proceedings under this Act, or any rules made thereunder otherwise than when required, under law to attend personally, may attend in such proceedings by a person authorised by him in writing in this behalf, being a relative of, or a person regularly employed by, the aggrieved person, or a lawyer who is entitled to plead in any Court of Law, or an excise consultant as defined and licensed under rules prescribed in this behalf, and not being disqualified by or under sub-section (2).
(2) No person who has been dismissed from Government service shall be qualified to represent a person under sub-section (1); and if any lawyer or excise consultant is found guilty of misconduct in connection with any excise proceedings by the authority empowered to take disciplinary action against members of the profession to which he belongs, or if any other person is found guilty of such misconduct by the Collector of Excise, the Collector or Excise may direct that he shall be thenceforward disqualified to represent a person under sub-section (1);
Provided that-
(a) no such direction shall be issued in respect of any person unless he is given a reasonable opportunity of being heard,
(b) any person against whom such direction is issued may, within one month from the date of receipt of the direction, appeal to the National Board of Revenue to have the direction cancelled, and
(c) no such direction shall take effect until one month from the date of receipt thereof by the person concerned or, when an appeal is preferred, until the disposal of the appeal.”;
(6) in section 37, in sub-section (2), after clause (iv), the following new clause (iva) shall be inserted, namely:-
“(iva) regulate the removal and movement of such imported goods as cannot be distinguished from any excisable goods of the same description;”; and
(7) the First Schedule shall be amended in the manner set out in the THIRD SCHEDULE to this Ordinance.