https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=167233 A personal penalty under Rule 173-Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 should not be sustained for a mere technical breach where there is no deliberate evasion, contumacious conduct, dishonesty, or conscious disregard of statutory obligation; on the facts described, the assessee had paid duty in advance and the penalty was set aside. In the same matter, a redemption fine imposed in lieu of confiscation was held to be excessive where the lapses were procedural and no mala fide intention was attributed, so the fine was reduced as a matter of proportionality. The discussion emphasises that quasi-criminal excise penalties must reflect the nature of the default and the surrounding circumstances. en-us Wed, 20 Mar 1985 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 12 Dec 2014 12:37:09 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=167233 A personal penalty under Rule 173-Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 should not be sustained for a mere technical breach where there is no deliberate evasion, contumacious conduct, dishonesty, or conscious disregard of statutory obligation; on the facts described, the assessee had paid duty in advance and the penalty was set aside. In the same matter, a redemption fine imposed in lieu of confiscation was held to be excessive where the lapses were procedural and no mala fide intention was attributed, so the fine was reduced as a matter of proportionality. The discussion emphasises that quasi-criminal excise penalties must reflect the nature of the default and the surrounding circumstances. Case-Laws Central Excise Wed, 20 Mar 1985 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=167233