https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=97112 Penalty under central excise law was upheld because the assessee failed to substantiate its claim of bona fide belief that potato chips were not dutiable. The record showed frying of potato slices in edible oil rather than a mere dehydration process, and the assessee had already accepted classification and paid duty. Correspondence with the department was treated as misleading and as containing half-truths, which negated any genuine mistaken belief. The principle applied was that a plea of bona fide conduct does not shield an assessee from penalty when the factual basis for non-liability is not proved and the department is misled about manufacture and duty liability. en-us Tue, 17 Apr 2001 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:58:58 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=97112 Penalty under central excise law was upheld because the assessee failed to substantiate its claim of bona fide belief that potato chips were not dutiable. The record showed frying of potato slices in edible oil rather than a mere dehydration process, and the assessee had already accepted classification and paid duty. Correspondence with the department was treated as misleading and as containing half-truths, which negated any genuine mistaken belief. The principle applied was that a plea of bona fide conduct does not shield an assessee from penalty when the factual basis for non-liability is not proved and the department is misled about manufacture and duty liability. Case-Laws Central Excise Tue, 17 Apr 2001 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=97112