https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=82989 Theft of excisable goods may constitute a defence to duty demand where the loss falls within the expressions "lost or destroyed" and "unavoidable accident" under the Central Excise Rules. Loss by theft can qualify for remission if it is satisfactorily explained, is not attributable to clandestine removal, and occurred despite ordinary reasonable precautions. Gradual shortages of cigarettes, despite deployed security and employee exit checks, were treated as petty theft that could not have been prevented by reasonable care. The resulting duty demand and penalty were unsustainable because the loss qualified as an unavoidable accident. en-us Mon, 12 Apr 1993 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:35:57 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=82989 Theft of excisable goods may constitute a defence to duty demand where the loss falls within the expressions "lost or destroyed" and "unavoidable accident" under the Central Excise Rules. Loss by theft can qualify for remission if it is satisfactorily explained, is not attributable to clandestine removal, and occurred despite ordinary reasonable precautions. Gradual shortages of cigarettes, despite deployed security and employee exit checks, were treated as petty theft that could not have been prevented by reasonable care. The resulting duty demand and penalty were unsustainable because the loss qualified as an unavoidable accident. Case-Laws Central Excise Mon, 12 Apr 1993 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=82989