ORDER
C.N.B. Nair, Member (T)
1. This is an appeal by the Revenue. Under his adjudication Order 119/92 dated 7.5.92, the Additional Collector of Central Excise, Bombay-I held the show cause notice dated 5.6.87 to be time barred in respect of demand prior to 5.1.87 on account of the show cause notice being issued beyond a period of six months. The Revenue has contended in the appeal that the Collector’s order is erroneous inasmuch as it is in violation of the provisions regarding “relevant date” stipulated in Section 11A(3)(ii) of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944.
2. None has appeared on behalf of the respondent despite notice. Therefore we are deciding this case after hearing the Departmental Representative.
3. The issue that has come up for decision in this appeal is ‘relevant date’ for the purpose of raising demand under Section 11A. Section 11A itself defines ‘relevant date’ and it reads as under:
relevant date’ means–
(a) in the case of excisable goods on which duty of excise has not been levied or paid or has been short levied or short paid
(A) where under the rules made under this Act a periodical return showing particulars of the duty paid on the excisable goods removed during the period to which the said return relates, is to be filed by a manufacturer or a producer or a license of a warehouse, as the case may be, the date on which such return is so filed.
It is clear from the above that time limit for show cause notice is to be reckoned from the date on which monthly returns for assessment are filed. In the instant case, in respect of goods cleared in November 1986, the return was required to be filed in the succeeding month i.e., on 7.12.86. Therefore, the Revenue are right in their submission that the entire demand from November onwards was within time. During hearing Learned Departmental Representative has also drawn or attention to the decision of this Tribunal in CCE v. Vapi Paper Mills 1998 (104) ELT 780 wherein the Tribunal held that ‘relevant date is to be reckoned by reference to Clause (A) or Sub-clause (a) of Section 11A(3)(ii). In this view of the matter, the appeal of the Revenue merits acceptance. The same is accordingly allowed and the order of the Additional Collector holding the demand as time-barred for November and December 1986 is set aside. Jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner is directed to work out the amount of duty involved during this period and to take necessary action to recover the same.