Accounting breach for duty-paid scrap justified confiscation and penalty; missing express rule citation did not vitiate notice.

Goods brought into a licensed factory without entry in the statutory register and without intimation or prior permission were treated as a breach of accounting and control requirements, making the duty-paid steel scrap liable to confiscation and penalty. The explanation that the consignment belonged to a sister concern and was unloaded because of bad weather was rejected on the facts, as most of the goods had already reached that concern. Omission to expressly cite Rule 51A in the show-cause notice was not considered fatal because the notice set out the contravention facts and referred to the connected confiscatory and penal provisions. The confiscation and penalty were upheld.

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Issues: Whether confiscation of the duty-paid steel scrap and imposition of penalty were justified when the goods were retained in the factory without accountal or prior permission, and whether omission to expressly cite Rule 51A in the show cause notice vitiated the proceedings.

Analysis: The goods were admittedly brought into and retained in the licensed premises without entry in the statutory register and without intimation or permission from the Department. The explanation that the goods belonged to the sister concern and were unloaded because of bad weather was found unacceptable, particularly because a major part of the consignment had reached the sister concern. The absence of an express reference to Rule 51A in the notice was held not fatal, since the facts constituting the alleged contravention were clearly set out and the notice specifically referred to the connected penal and confiscatory provisions. The violation of the accounting and control rules was therefore treated as established, and the goods were held liable to confiscation with consequential penalty.

Conclusion: The confiscation and penalty were upheld, and the appeal was rejected.

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