RG-1 register non-entry may justify confiscation, but technical violation can support deletion of penalty.

Non-entry of enamelled copper wire in the RG-1 register was treated as a contravention of excise record-keeping requirements because the relevant stage for entry was when the wire was reeled or rolled on drums and disconnected from the machine. The omission was nonetheless viewed as a technical violation, and the surrounding uncertainty about the continued operation of departmental instructions and the filing of the process chart weakened the case for severe punishment. Confiscation and redemption fine were sustained, but the penalty under Rule 173Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 was deleted.

---

---

Issues: Whether non-entry of enamelled copper wire in the RG-1 register justified confiscation and penalty, and whether the violation was merely technical warranting only limited penal consequence.

Analysis: The goods were found unrecorded in the RG-1 register. The governing excise practice treated electric wires and cables as required to be entered at the stage when they were reeled or rolled on drums and disconnected from the machine, with subsequent packing and transfer to the store-room reflected in the register. On that basis, the omission could amount to contravention of Rule 53 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. At the same time, the record left uncertainty on whether the departmental instructions fixing the RG-1 point were still operative and whether the assessee's process chart had been filed before the dispute arose. The omission was treated as a technical violation rather than conduct calling for very severe action. The earlier Tribunal view relied upon by the assessee was held to have lost force in light of later precedent.

Conclusion: The confiscation and redemption fine were sustained, but the penalty was set aside under Rule 173Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded only to the extent of deletion of penalty, while the finding of contravention and the fine associated with confiscation were maintained.

Ratio Decidendi: Non-entry of excisable goods in the RG-1 register at the stage prescribed by departmental instructions can justify confiscation, but where the default is treated as technical and the surrounding circumstances do not support a harsher consequence, the penalty may be mitigated or deleted.

---