History of Central Excise Law :

History: Prior to 1944 there were 16 individual Acts which levied excise duty. Each such act dealt with one or same type of commodities. All these acts were consolidated and a consolidating Act was passed in 1944 called as Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 which came into effect from 28th February 1944. In I996 the Act was renamed as Central Excise Act, 1944.

The Central Excise Act, 1944 (originally Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944) and Rules framed there under came into force on 28th February, 1944.

Application: The Act applies to the whole of India. It also extends to areas designated in the Continental Shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone of India. The ‘exclusive economic zone‘ extends upto 200 nautical miles inside the sea from base line. Though originally the Act did not apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, its application was extended to that State since the enactment of Taxation Laws (Extension to Jammu & Kashmir) Act, 1954.