https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=125537 Rule 96-ZQ(5)(ii) treated delayed payment of central excise duty as attracting statutory interest and a penalty equal to the outstanding duty once default occurred. The provision was read as mandatory after the 27 February 1999 amendment, leaving no discretion to reduce the penalty on equitable grounds. Short delay and financial hardship were held irrelevant to the quantum of penalty, and the earlier discretionary view was not followed in light of later Supreme Court authority. The operative effect is that adjudicating authorities must impose the prescribed penalty in full where the rule itself fixes the consequence of default. en-us Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:21:46 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=125537 Rule 96-ZQ(5)(ii) treated delayed payment of central excise duty as attracting statutory interest and a penalty equal to the outstanding duty once default occurred. The provision was read as mandatory after the 27 February 1999 amendment, leaving no discretion to reduce the penalty on equitable grounds. Short delay and financial hardship were held irrelevant to the quantum of penalty, and the earlier discretionary view was not followed in light of later Supreme Court authority. The operative effect is that adjudicating authorities must impose the prescribed penalty in full where the rule itself fixes the consequence of default. Case-Laws Central Excise Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=125537