Unaccounted excisable goods and clandestine removal can sustain confiscation and penalty without proof of mens rea.

Unaccounted excisable goods found short in the RG-1 register, without any satisfactory explanation, can justify confiscation and penalty under Rule 173Q(1)(a)(b)(c) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. The admitted clearance of tyres without duty-paying documents also supported an inference of clandestine removal. Mens rea was held not to be a prerequisite for action under the rule, so the absence of a specific allegation of intent did not defeat enforcement. Confiscation and penalty were accordingly sustained.

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Issues: Whether confiscation and penalty were sustainable in respect of tyres found unaccounted in the statutory records, and whether mens rea was necessary for action under Rule 173Q(1)(a)(b)(c) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944.

Analysis: The tyres were found short of proper accounting in the RG-1 register, and no justifiable explanation was offered for such non-accountal. The existence of a separate, admitted clearance of tyres without duty-paying documents supported the inference that the unaccounted stock could be connected with clandestine removal. The authority also relied on the settled position that mens rea is not a prerequisite for invoking Rule 173Q(1)(a)(b)(c) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, and therefore the absence of a specific allegation of intent did not assist the appellant.

Conclusion: Confiscation and penalty were upheld, and the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where excisable goods are found unaccounted in statutory records and no satisfactory explanation is provided, confiscation under Rule 173Q(1)(a)(b)(c) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 can be sustained without proof of mens rea.

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