https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=107600 Confiscation of alleged excess stock and penalty were held unsustainable where the stock difference was plausibly explained as notional, arising from the assessee's weighing method and accepted tolerance in weight standards. The record disclosed no evidence or allegation of intent to evade duty, so the absence of mens rea was decisive. On those facts, the excess goods could not be treated as real unaccounted stock, and neither confiscation nor penalty could be justified. The earlier view that improper maintenance of records may attract penalty did not alter the result on this factual matrix. en-us Thu, 19 Jun 2003 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:52:14 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=107600 Confiscation of alleged excess stock and penalty were held unsustainable where the stock difference was plausibly explained as notional, arising from the assessee's weighing method and accepted tolerance in weight standards. The record disclosed no evidence or allegation of intent to evade duty, so the absence of mens rea was decisive. On those facts, the excess goods could not be treated as real unaccounted stock, and neither confiscation nor penalty could be justified. The earlier view that improper maintenance of records may attract penalty did not alter the result on this factual matrix. Case-Laws Central Excise Thu, 19 Jun 2003 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=107600