DIVN.FOREST OFFICER, RANNI,KERALA vs COLLECTOR OF CENT.EXCISE&CUSTOMS — C.A. No. 2535/1998

Case Summary On 13 January 2004, the Supreme Court dismissed the Forest Officer's appeal challenging a Customs, Excise & Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal order dated 5 December 1997. The core dispute involved whether the appellant was liable to pay excise duty on railway sleepers. The Court rejected the appellant's contention that it was merely supplying timber, finding it contradicted their own admission in the show cause notice reply (10 November 1988) that sleepers were being manufactured. The Court upheld the duty assessment, finding no grounds to interfere with the tribunal's judgment. No costs were awarded. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.