Business & Economy

Centre tweaks excise law:
ITC at receiving end

What is India News Service, Tuesday, 1 February 2005, 1800 hrs IST

The Empire has struck back \97 cigarette maker ITC Ltd will have to cough up another Rs 450 crore in excise dues to the government within 30 days.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has passed an ordinance that tweaks excise laws retrospectively to force the Calcutta-based cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate to pay the unpaid amount arising from a case that goes back to 1983.

A claim of Rs 803 crore had been made on the ground that ITC had sold cigarettes at a price higher than the maximum retail price printed on the packets.

ITC had deposited Rs 350 crore in an account while it fought the excise claim legally.

Last September, ITC had come out triumphant from a bruising 17-year legal battle when the Supreme Court struck down the Rs 803-crore excise tab.

The court threw out the case, saying that having decided once to charge the levy on the maximum retail price, the government could not change course and ask the company to pay the duty on the price at which the cigarettes were sold.

In the ordinance, the government has introduced the clause that excise will be charged on the price that is higher.

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'Leather industry has potential to improve performance': The 20th annual edition of the India International Leather Fair (IILF-2005) got under way here today with speakers at the inaugural function underlining the need for the Indian leather industry to strengthen its position.

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