Return-filing default under Central Excise Rules attracts penalty where a specific provision governs the breach, excluding residuary Rule 210.

Penalty for failure to file RT-12 returns was treated as justified where goods were cleared without intimation to the excise authorities and the returns were not filed within time. The default was regarded as a clear breach of the statutory return-filing obligation under Rule 54 read with Rule 173Q of the Central Excise Rules. Rule 210 was held unavailable because a residuary penalty provision cannot be used where the default is specifically covered by other rules. The penalty was also found not to be disproportionate to the breach.

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Issues: Whether penalty for non-filing of RT-12 returns was rightly imposed under the Central Excise Rules, and whether Rule 210 could be invoked in preference to Rules 54 and 173Q.

Analysis: The default was held to be neither bona fide nor negligible, because the goods were being cleared during the relevant period without intimation to the excise authorities and the returns were not filed in time. The matter was treated as a clear contravention of the duty to file returns under Rule 54 read with Rule 173Q. Rule 210 was held inapplicable because it operates only where no specific provision covers the default, whereas the conduct in question was specifically governed by the return-filing and penalty provisions. The quantum of penalty was also found not to be disproportionate to the breach.

Conclusion: The penalty was held to be validly imposed under Rules 54 and 173Q, Rule 210 was held inapplicable, and the challenge to the orders failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a specific provision in the Central Excise Rules governs a return-filing default, the general residuary penalty provision cannot be invoked, and a deliberate or unexplained failure to file statutory returns is liable to penalty.

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