Tribunal rules in favor of appellant, waives duty and penalty pending appeal

The Tribunal held that the appellant should not be held liable for errors by the Department regarding the transmission of the original copy of ARE-3. The Tribunal considered provisions of the C.B.E.C.'s Excise Manual and waived the pre-deposit of duty and penalty, staying the recovery pending appeal disposal.

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Issues: Interpretation of Notification under Rule 20

In this case, the appellant had cleared goods under CT-3 and ARE-3, but the original copy of ARE-3 was not transmitted to the consignee's office by the Superintendent of Central Excise. A show cause notice was issued for duty demand and penalty, which was confirmed by the adjudicating officer and upheld by the Commissioner (Appeals).

The Tribunal considered the provisions of the C.B.E.C.'s Excise Manual of Supplementary Instructions, specifically Para 3.6 and Para 4.2, which impose a duty on both the Superintendents-in-charge of Consignor and Consignee to exchange the ARE-3. Since there was no evidence that this exchange took place, the Tribunal held that the appellant should not be held liable for any errors by the Department. As a result, the Tribunal waived the pre-deposit of duty and penalty and stayed the recovery until the appeal's disposal.

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