ORDER
Jyoti Balasundaram, Vice-President
1. Claims for refund of duties of Rs. 1,79,692.00 paid in the months of March and April, 2003, filed by the appellants herein, in terms of the Notification No. 33/99-C.E., dated 8-7-99, have been rejected on the ground that the product on which duty was paid and refund of duty claimed, was Tea which was exempted from excise duty of Re. 1/- per Kg. by Notification No. 6/2003-C.E., dated 1-3-2003, and in its place, an additional duty of excise of Re. 1/- per Kg. by way of surcharge, has been levied in terms of Fourth Schedule vide clause 149 of the Finance Bill, 2003 which was enacted on 14-5-2003 by Section 157 of the Finance Act, 2003, and not under Sub-section (3) of Section 3 of the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 and that of additional duties of excise levied under Sub-section (3) of Section 3 of the Additional Duties of Excise (Textiles & Textile Articles) Act, 1978, which are Acts specified under the Notification in question.
2. We have heard both sides. The Notification exempts the goods specified in the Schedule appended thereunder (except certain goods), and cleared from a unit located in the State of Assam or Tripura or Meghalaya or Mizoram or Manipur, or Nagaland or Arunachal Pradesh, from so much of the duty of excise leviable thereon, under Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957, and Additional Duties of Excise (Textiles and Textile Articles) Act, 1978.
3. In view of the clear language in the Notification, the claim for refund has no merit as the additional duty of excise on Tea was not levied under either of the Acts above-mentioned. We, therefore, see no merits in the appeal and accordingly, dismiss the same.