Pre-deposit waiver for export penalty accepted where duty and interest were paid and export failure was beyond control.

Waiver of pre-deposit of penalty was granted where export to Nepal was not completed because the goods had gone beyond the exporter's control, and the exporter had already paid the duty with interest. The notification required execution of a bond and production of proof of export, but failure to export within the stipulated time only triggered duty and interest liability, which had been satisfied. As the bond conditions were found to have been substantially complied with before the Central Excise authorities, pre-deposit of the penalty was waived pending appeal.

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Issues: Whether waiver of pre-deposit of penalty was justified pending the appeal where the export was not completed because the goods were beyond the exporter's control and duty with interest had already been paid.

Analysis: The procedure under the notification required the exporter to execute a bond for export to Nepal and to produce proof of export. On failure to export within the stipulated time, duty along with interest became payable, which had already been complied with. The goods were not under the appellant's control for effecting export, and the bond conditions stood substantially complied with before the Central Excise authorities.

Conclusion: Waiver of pre-deposit of the penalty was granted in favour of the appellant.

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