¹[35E.  Powers of ²[Committee of ³[Principal Chief Commissioner of Central Excise or Chief Commissioners of Central Excise] or ⁴[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioners of Central Excise]] to pass certain orders.--(1)  The ²[Committee of ³[Principal Chief Commissioners of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise]] or may, of its own motion, call for and examine the record of any proceeding in which a ⁴[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excis]] as an adjudicating authority has passed any decision or order under this Act for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the legality or propriety of any such decision or order and may, by order, direct such ⁵[Commissioner ⁶[or any other Commissioner]] to apply to the Appellate Tribunal ⁷[or, as the case may be, the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal established under Section 3 of the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal Act, 1986] for the determination of such points arising out of the decision or order as may be specified by the ²[Committee of ³[Principal Chief Commissioners of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise]] in its order:

   ⁸[Provided that where the Committee of ⁹[Principal Chief Commissioners of Central Excise or Chief Commissioner of Central Excise[ differs in its opinion as to the legality or propriety of the decision or order of the ¹⁰[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise], it shall state the point or points on which it differs and make a reference to the Board which, after considering the facts of the decision or order, if is of the opinion that the decision or order passed by the ¹⁰[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise] is not legal or proper, may, by order, direct such Commissioner or any other Commissioner to apply to the Appellate Tribunal for the determination of such points arising out of the decision or order, as may be specified in its order.]

   (2)  The ¹⁰[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise] may, of his own motion, call for and examine the record of any proceeding in which an adjudicating authority subordinate to him has passed any decision or order under this Act for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety of any such decision or order and may, by order, direct ¹¹[such authority or any Central Excise Officer subordinate to him to apply to the ¹²[Commissioner (Appeals) for the determination of such points arising out of the decision or order as may be specified by the 10[Principal Commissioner of Central Excise or Commissioner of Central Excise] in his order.

   ¹³[(3)  Every order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, shall be made within a period of three months from the date of communication of the decision or order of the adjudicating authority:]

   ¹⁴[Provided that the Board may, on sufficient cause being shown, extend the said period by another thirty days.]

   (4)  Where in pursuance of an order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the adjudicating authority or the authorised officer makes an application to the Appellate Tribunal ¹⁵[or, as the case may be, the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal established under Section 3 of the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal Act, 1986] or the ¹²[Commissioner (Appeals) within a period of ¹⁶[one month] from the date of communication of the order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) to the adjudicating authority, such application shall be heard by the Appellate Tribunal ¹⁵[or, as the case may be, the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal established under Section 3 of the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal Act, 1986 or the ¹²[Commissioner (Appeals)], as the case may be, as if such application were an appeal made against the decision or order of the adjudicating authority and the provisions of this Act regarding appeals, including the provisions of sub-section (4) of Section 35-B, ¹⁷[or, as the case may be, the provisions of the Customs and Excise Revenues Appellate Tribunal Act, 1986] shall, so far as may be, apply to such application.

   ¹⁸[(5)  The provisions of this section shall not apply to any decision or order in which the determination of any question having a relation to the rate of duty of excise or to the value of goods for the purposes of assessment of any duty is in issue or is one of the points in issue.

   Explanation.--For the purposes of this sub-section, the determination of a rate of duty in relation to any goods or valuation of any goods for the purposes of assessment of duty includes the determination of a question--

   (a)  relating to the rate of duty of excise for the time being in force, whether under the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986), or under any other Central Act providing for the levy and collection of any duty of excise, in relation to any goods on or after the 28th day of February, 1986; or

   (b)  relating to the value of goods for the purposes of assessment of any duty of excise in cases where the assessment is made on or after the 28th day of February, 1986; or

   (c)  whether any goods are excisable goods or whether the rate of duty of excise on any goods is nil; or

   (d)  whether any goods fall under a particular heading or sub-heading of the ¹⁹[First Schedule and the Second Schedule] to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986), or the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 (58 of 1957), or the Additional Duties of Excise (Textiles and Textile Articles) Act, 1978 (40 of 1978), or that any goods are or not covered by a particular notification or order issued by the Central Government or the Board, as the case may be, granting total or partial exemption from duty; or

   (e)  whether the value of any goods for the purposes of assessment of duty of excise shall be enhanced or reduced by the addition or reduction of the amounts in respect of such matters as are specifically provided in this Act.]]