Failure to prove clandestine removal defeated confiscation and penalties, with no basis for remand or combined fine.

Confiscation and penalties were upheld as set aside because the department failed to prove any contravention under the excise rules. The record showed no reliable evidence of clandestine removal or clandestine manufacture, no clear demand or adjudication of duty, and no proof that the seized goods were removed without payment of duty. The defence evidence was not properly appreciated, and the seizure materials were improperly clubbed together. The matter also did not justify remand for fresh adjudication, and a combined fine could not be sustained merely because the persons belonged to one family unit, especially where part of the goods related to a partnership firm.

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Issues: Whether the order setting aside confiscation and penalties was justified in the absence of a proved contravention, and whether the matter ought to have been remanded for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The finding rested on the absence of a clear demand or adjudication of duty, the lack of reliable evidence of clandestine removal or clandestine manufacture, and the failure to establish that the seized goods were removed without payment of duty. The departmental burden to prove contravention under the excise rules was not discharged. The record also showed that relevant defence evidence was not properly appreciated, the seizure materials were clubbed together in an unsatisfactory manner, and the case did not warrant remand for a fresh round of adjudication. The view that a combined fine could be justified merely because the persons belonged to a family unit was rejected, particularly where part of the goods were associated with a partnership firm.

Conclusion: The order of the appellate authority setting aside confiscation and penalties was upheld, and no remand was called for.

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