Remission of duty for goods destroyed by natural causes requires fresh factual verification before denial of relief.

Remission of duty for goods destroyed by storm and rain could not be rejected on a general objection that insufficient precautions were taken; the decisive facts about storage in the open yard, departmental awareness of the storage mode, and any insurance benefit required verification. As the loss itself and the duty quantum were not disputed, the matter was remanded for de novo adjudication by the original authority. If the stated facts and departmental knowledge were found correct, the remission claim was to be accepted.

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Issues: Whether remission of duty was payable on goods destroyed by heavy storm and whether the matter required de novo verification on the question of precaution and departmental knowledge of the mode of storage.

Analysis: The claim for remission was not disputed as to the occurrence of loss or the quantum of duty involved. The objection was confined to the requirement under the first proviso to Rule 49(1) of the Central Excise Rules that goods must be lost or destroyed by natural causes or unavoidable accident during handling or storage in store room or other approved premises, and to whether sufficient precautions had been taken. The record indicated that the goods were stored in the open yard in a stated manner, allegedly with departmental knowledge, but that factual aspect and the question of insurance benefit required verification. Since the destruction was said to have occurred due to storm and rain, the claim could not be rejected without examining these factual matters.

Conclusion: The matter was required to be reconsidered by the original authority on de novo basis, and if the stated facts and departmental awareness were found correct, the remission claim was to be accepted.

Final Conclusion: The appeal resulted in a remand for fresh adjudication, with the assessee retaining a favourable opportunity to establish entitlement to remission.

Ratio Decidendi: Remission of duty for goods destroyed by natural causes cannot be denied merely on a general objection to precautions when the decisive factual questions require verification and the matter must be adjudicated afresh.

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