Judgment

SIKRI, J. :- I have had the advantage of reading the draft judgment prepared by Hegde, J., but, while I agree with him that there is no force in the plea of limitation advanced on behalf of the assessee, in my opinion the appeal should fail on the ground that the excise duty was levied correctly as determined by the Central Government in its order dated November 2, 1967.

2. The facts are fully set out in the judgment of Hegde, J. It is only necessary to mention a few facts in order to make this judgment readable. The assessee manufactures iron and steel products. It manufactured wires out of steel rods, which had been imported by it prior to April 24, 1962. Item 26AA was added to the First Schedule of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (I of 1944) - hereinafter referred to as the Excise Act - by Finance Act (No. 2), 1962 (XX of 1962) with effect from the April 24, 1962. This reads as under:

"26-AA IRON OR STEEL PRODUCTS, THE FOLLOWING, NAMELY:

(i) Bars, rods coils, wires, joists, girders, angles, channels, tees, flats, beams, zeds, trough, piling and all other rolled, forged or extruded shapes and sections, not otherwise specified. Five per cent. ad valorem plus the excis