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Section11
The Central Excise Act, 1944

Recovery of sums due to Government

In force From 28 Feb 1944 Act 1 of 1944 As on 15 Oct 2026

Act 1 of 1944 Ministry Finance Enacted 24 Feb 1944 In force 28 Feb 1944 Cited by 9 provisions Instruments 19

Section 11 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 deals with recovery of sums due to Government. ] In respect of duty and any other sums of any kind payable to the Central Government under any of the provisions of this Act or of the rules made thereunder [including the amount required to be paid to the credit of the Central Government under Section 11-D], the officer empowered by the [Central B The Act came into force on 28 Feb 1944.

1[(1)] In respect of duty and any other sums of any kind payable to the Central Government under any of the provisions of this Act or of the rules made thereunder 2[including the amount required to be paid to the credit of the Central Government under Section 11-D], the officer empowered by the 3[Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963)] to levy such duty or require the payment of such sums 4[may deduct or require any other Central Excise Officer or a proper officer referred to in Section 142 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) to deduct the amount so payable from any money owing to the person from whom such sums may be recoverable or due which may be in his hands or under his disposal or control or may be in the hands or under disposal or control of such other officer, or may recover the amount by attachment and sale of excisable goods belonging to such person; and if the amount payable is not so recovered he may prepare a certificate signed by him specifying the amount due from the person liable to pay the same and send it to the Collector of the district in which such person resides or conducts his business and the said Collector, on receipt of such certificate, shall proceed to recover from the said person the amount specified therein as if it were an arrear of land revenue:

5[(2)(i) The Central Excise Officer may, by a notice in writing, require any other person from whom money is due to such person, or may become due to such person, or who holds or may subsequently hold money for or on account of such person, to pay to the credit of the Central Government either forthwith upon the money becoming due or being held, or at or within the time specified in the notice, not being before the money becomes due or is held, so much of the money as is sufficient to pay the amount due from such person or the whole of the money when it is equal to or less than that amount;

(ii) every person to whom a notice is issued under this sub-section shall be bound to comply with such notice, and in particular, where any such notice is issued to a post office, banking company or an insurer, it shall not be necessary to produce any pass book, deposit receipt, policy or any other document for the purpose of any entry, endorsement or the like being made before payment is made, notwithstanding any rule, practice or requirement to the contrary;

(iii) in a case where the person to whom a notice under this sub-section has been issued, fails to make the payment in pursuance thereof to the Central Government, he shall be deemed to be a person from whom duty and any other sums of any kind payable to the Central Government under any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder have become due, in respect of the amount specified in the notice and all the consequences under this Act shall follow.]

6[Provided that where the person (hereinafter referred to as predecessor) from whom the duty or any other sums of any kind, as specified in this section, is recoverable or due, transfers or otherwise disposes of his business or trade in whole or in part, or effects any change in the ownership thereof, in consequence of which he is succeeded in such business or trade by any other person, all excisable goods, materials, preparations, plants, machineries, vessels, utensils, implements and articles in the custody or possession of the person so succeeding may also be attached and sold by such officer empowered by the Central Board of Excise and Customs, after obtaining written approval from the 7[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise, for the purposes of recovering such duty or other sums recoverable or due from such predecessor at the time of such transfer or otherwise disposal or change.]

Section 11, The Central Excise Act, 1944 (Act 1 of 1944).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Referred to by 9

  1. s. 11A Recovery of duties not levied or not paid or short-levied or short-paid or erroneously refunded
  2. s. 11AC Penalty for short-levy or non-levy of duty in certain cases
  3. s. 11BB Interest on delayed refunds
  4. s. 11C Power not to recover duty of excise not levied or short-levied as a result of general practice
  5. s. 11DD Interest on the amounts collected in excess of the duty
  6. s. 32F Procedure on receipt of an application under Section 32-E
  7. s. 32N Recovery of sums due under order of settlement
  8. s. 35EA Powers of revision of Board or Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise in certain cases
  9. Finance Act s. 90 Amendment of section 11

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Commr. of Cen. Excise vs International Auto LTD

    Supreme Court of India 08 Jan 2010 Binding (Supreme Court) Reportable Civil Appeal No. 225 Of 2010

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    Under the amended scheme of Sections 11A, 11AB of the Central Excise Act, 1944 as amended by Act 14 of 2001 and Act 32 of 2003, interest under Section 11AB is leviable on differential excise duty arising from retrospective price revisions in supply contracts, regardless of whether such understatement of value and short-levy of duty at the time of removal was unintentional or committed without fraudulent means. The leviability of interest is premised on the principle that interest compensates the government for loss of revenue on delayed payment of duty. When goods are cleared at prices later revised upward retrospectively, the goods carried a higher value at the time of clearance and were cleared on short-payment of duty, and such short-payment must be treated as having occurred at the time of removal, not at the time supplementary invoices are issued.

    On this section: Provides for levy of interest on delayed or deferred payment of duty including differential duty; interest leviable from first date of month succeeding the month in which duty ought to have been paid till date of actual payment; applicable for whatever reasons for short-payment or short-levy

    Read the full order on eCourts India

  2. Punjab National Bank vs Union of India Ministry of Finance/revenue Thr. Its Secretary

    Supreme Court of India 24 Feb 2022 Binding (SC) Reportable

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    When a statutory rule is omitted from the statute books and replaced by a new rule that uses narrower language or does not provide for the same power, pending proceedings initiated under the omitted rule will lapse unless there is an applicable saving clause in the statute or the new rule. Section 6 of the General Clauses Act applies only to repeal of Central Acts or Regulations, not to omission of rules. Section 38A of the Central Excise Act does not save proceedings when the legislature manifestly does not intend to revive the power, as evidenced by the fact that the power is not re-introduced in subsequent rules and the language is narrowed from 'anything' to 'goods'. Therefore, confiscation orders passed under an omitted rule are without jurisdiction and void. Additionally, in the absence of a specific statutory provision providing first charge to the government, secured creditors under SARFAESI Act have priority over government debts, and SARFAESI Act provisions override all other laws including the Central Excise Act.

    On this section: Provides for recovery of sums due to government through attachment and sale of excisable goods; establishes that recovery is through specific procedure, not confiscation of immovable property

    Read the full order on eCourts India

  3. Commnr. of Central Excise, Meerut vs Bharat Petroleum Corpn. LTD

    Supreme Court of India 27 Sep 2011 Binding (SC) - with strong precedential weight

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    An appeal under Section 35-L(b) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, is maintainable only when it involves determination of any question having relation to the rate of duty of Excise or to the value of goods for the purpose of assessment. A question concerning whether a dealer (as opposed to a manufacturer) is liable to pay excise duty does not relate to the rate of duty or value of goods and therefore falls outside the appellate jurisdiction conferred by Section 35-L(b). Consequently, an appeal raising only such a question is not maintainable, and the appellate court may dismiss it on jurisdictional grounds without engaging the substantive merits. Additionally, new grounds of challenge not raised before the lower appellate authority cannot be introduced for the first time before the Supreme Court.

    On this section: Interest provision cited in the demand; challenged along with the principal duty demand

    Read the full order on eCourts India

  4. Kamla Engg. vs Punjab National Bank

    High Court 10 Aug 2020 Binding (High Court) Reportable

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    The dues of a secured creditor have priority over and shall be paid in priority to all other debts and government dues including Central Excise dues. An auction purchaser who purchases a mortgaged property from a secured creditor in an auction conducted under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993 is not liable to pay the dues of the erstwhile owner/borrower/assessee that are claimed by the Central Excise Department or other government agencies, provided such dues do not arise from the utilization of the property itself and no charge has been created and notice given to the purchaser. The secured creditor's right of priority is established through Section 31B of Recovery Act 1993, Section 26E of Securitisation Act 2002, and Section 11E of Central Excise Act 1944, all of which have retroactive application to live and existing debts. A charge on immoveable property can only be enforced against a transferee if: (1) a charge has been validly created, and (2) the transferee had notice of such charge. In the absence of either element, the charge cannot be enforced against the transferee.

    On this section: Section 11E (inserted by Finance Act 2011, effective 08-04-2011) recognizes that Central Excise duty is first charge on property but is subject to Recovery Act 1993 and Securitisation Act 2002. Court held that even this provision acknowledges priority of secured creditor.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Judgments citing this section

These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.

  1. Supreme Court of India 18 Sep 2019 SCIN010282822010

    … On July 18, 2003, the appellant filed a refund claim for an amount of Rs.28,73,120/ in respect of the duty paid on the said waste paper/ broke during the period from July 2001 to March 2002. The said refund claim was filed under section 11(b) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (for short, referred to as "the 1944 Act") and within the statutory period of limitation. 11. A show cause notice was issued as to why the said claim be not rejected to which a reply was filed. The assessment committee rejected the said claim. The Commissioner of Appeals …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

  2. Supreme Court of India 18 Sep 2019 SCIN010160942011

    … On July 18, 2003, the appellant filed a refund claim for an amount of Rs.28,73,120/ in respect of the duty paid on the said waste paper/ broke during the period from July 2001 to March 2002. The said refund claim was filed under section 11(b) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (for short, referred to as "the 1944 Act") and within the statutory period of limitation. 11. A show cause notice was issued as to why the said claim be not rejected to which a reply was filed. The assessment committee rejected the said claim. The Commissioner of Appeals …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

  3. Supreme Court of India 18 Sep 2019 SCIN010242222016

    … On July 18, 2003, the appellant filed a refund claim for an amount of Rs.28,73,120/ in respect of the duty paid on the said waste paper/ broke during the period from July 2001 to March 2002. The said refund claim was filed under section 11(b) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (for short, referred to as "the 1944 Act") and within the statutory period of limitation. 11. A show cause notice was issued as to why the said claim be not rejected to which a reply was filed. The assessment committee rejected the said claim. The Commissioner of Appeals …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

Made under this section, and citing it

2 instruments state that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.

Another 17 instruments name this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.

All subordinate legislation

Questions about Section 11

What have the courts held on Section 11 of the Central Excise Act?

Commr. of Cen. Excise vs International Auto LTD (08 Jan 2010) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Provides for levy of interest on delayed or deferred payment of duty including differential duty; interest leviable from first date of month succeeding the month in which duty ought to have been paid till date of actual payment; applicable for whatever reasons for short-payment or short-levy. Another 3 judgments on this section are set out below, 3 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2010 to 2022.

How do I find court cases under Section 11 of the Central Excise Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Central Excise Act 1944 11, section 11 Central Excise Act 1944, section 11 of the Central Excise Act. People searching for it also type central excise act section 11b. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 4 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Commr. of Cen. Excise vs International Auto LTD (08 Jan 2010).

What should I read with Section 11 of the Central Excise Act, and has it changed?

9 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there are 2: most recently Notfn No 22/2012-CX (NT) (2012), then Notification No. 13/2009-CE (N.T.) (2009).

When did Section 11 of the Central Excise Act come into force?

Section 11 of the Central Excise Act, cited as Central Excise Act 1944 11, came into force on 28 Feb 1944, having been enacted on 24 Feb 1944. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.