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Circular No. 922/12/ 2010-CX
F.No . 208/2/2009-CX-6
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
(Central Board of Excise & Customs)
New Delhi dated the 18
th
May 2010.
Subject: Power of adjudication of Central Excise Officers- instructions - reg.
Please refer to Circular No. 752/68/2003-CX dated 01.10.'03 amended by Circular No. 865/3/2008-CX dated 19
th
February
2008 on the above subject. At present adjudication powers in Central Excise cases have been delegated upto the level of
Assistant Commissioners only, and Superintendents are not vested with any authority to adjudicate cases. The Board has
decided to confer the power of adjudication on Superintendents for cases involving duty upto Rs. 1 Lakh in a show cause
notice, except in respect of issues involving rate of duty and valuation or where extended period of limitation has been involved.
Accordingly, under the provisions of Section 11A and 33 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, the following further amendments are
made to the Circular 752/68/2003-CX dated 1st October 2003, as amended.
I. In Part B of para 2.1 of the Circular, the following row shall be inserted:.
Central Excise
Officers
Power of adjudication
(Amount of duty involved)
Superintendents
Upto Rs. 1 Lakh
( excluding cases involving determination of rate of duty or valuation and cases involving
extended period of limitation )
II. Consequently, the monetary limits of adjudication for the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner would stand
revised/amended in the said tables as follows:
Central Excise Officers
Power of adjudication
(Amount of duty involved)
Deputy/Assistant
Commissioners
Upto Rs. 5 Lakh ( except the cases where Superintendents are empowered to
adjudicate).
III . After Para 4 of the said Circular, a new Para 4A shall be inserted as given below:
"4A Regarding the power of adjudication of cases given to Superintendents, the following aspects are clarified:
I. They would be eligible to decide cases involving duty and/or CENVAT credit upto Rs. 1 Lakh in individual SCNs.
II. They would not be eligible to decide cases which involve excisability of a product, classification, eligibility of
exemption, valuation and cases involving suppression of facts, fraud etc..
III. They would be eligible to decide cases involving wrong availment of CENVAT credit upto a monetary limit of upto
Rs. 1 Lakh.
IV. They would be eligible to decide Show Cause Notice proposing only imposition of penalty under Rule 26 and 27 of
the Central Excise Rules, 2002 or Rule 15 and 15A of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004."
2. The jurisdictional Commissioners of Central Excise may redistribute the pending cases in the Commissionerate based on
the above factors. It is further clarified that notwithstanding this revision, in all cases, where the personal hearing has already
been completed, orders will be passed by the officer before whom the hearing has been held. Such orders should normally be
issued within a month of the date of completion of the personal hearing.
3. It may also be noted that the age-wise pendency of cases as shown in MTR would be reflected based on the date of
issuance of Show Cause Notice, and not on the basis of transfer of cases to the new Adjudicating Authority. The jurisdictional
Commissioners should ensure that the work regarding re-allocation of pending cases, issuance of corrigendum to the Show
Cause Notices, transfer of relevant files and records, etc., should be completed within a month. A compliance report in this
regard should be sent by the Commissioner to the zonal Chief Commissioner, who in turn, should submit a report to the Board
by 1.6.2010, certifying that all the work regarding re-allocation of cases has been completed.
4. Field formations and trade may be informed suitably.

5. Receipt of the Circular may please be acknowledged.
6. Hindi version will follow.
( Sushil Solanki )
Commissioner (CX)