Waiver of Central Excise Duty and Penalty for M/s. Ambica Metal Works

The Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, New Delhi, directed M/s. Ambica Metal Works to deposit Rs. 2 lakhs within six weeks for the waiver of pre-deposit of Central Excise duty and penalty totaling Rs. 14,08,465/-. Compliance with this direction would result in the waiver of the remaining penalty amount and the entire duty amount. Recovery of the waived amounts would be stayed during the appeal process, with a compliance date set for 8-9-2004.

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Issues: Application for waiver of pre-deposit of Central Excise duty and penalty.

In this judgment by the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, New Delhi, the issue at hand was an application by M/s. Ambica Metal Works for the waiver of pre-deposit of Central Excise duty amounting to Rs. 2,98,873/- and penalty of Rs. 14,08,465/-. The Advocate for the Appellant argued that the duty amount had already been deposited by them based on determinations of annual production capacity under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act. It was contended that the duty was confirmed due to the alleged absence of necessary challans, which were actually produced. The penalty was imposed for late payment of duty. The Senior Departmental Representative also presented their case.

Upon considering the submissions from both sides, the Tribunal noted that the Applicants had established a strong prima facie case for the waiver of pre-deposit of duty. However, they did not demonstrate a similar case for the waiver of the entire penalty amount since the duty had been deposited late on multiple occasions. Consequently, the Tribunal directed the Applicants to deposit Rs. 2 lakhs within six weeks. Upon compliance with this direction, the remaining penalty amount and the entire duty amount would be waived. The recovery of the waived amounts would be stayed during the pendency of the Appeal, with a reporting compliance date set for 8-9-2004.

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