https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=759 Penalty under Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is attracted only where short levy or non-levy results from fraud, collusion, wilful misstatement, suppression of facts, or contravention with intent to evade duty. The Court held that this mens rea-based precondition must exist before penalty can be imposed, but once established, the provision prescribes an equal penalty and leaves no discretion to reduce the quantum. The Tribunal was therefore not justified in treating the penalty as discretionary; if penalty is leviable under Section 11AC, it must be equal to the duty determined. en-us Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 20 Sep 2018 12:26:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=759 Penalty under Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, 1944 is attracted only where short levy or non-levy results from fraud, collusion, wilful misstatement, suppression of facts, or contravention with intent to evade duty. The Court held that this mens rea-based precondition must exist before penalty can be imposed, but once established, the provision prescribes an equal penalty and leaves no discretion to reduce the quantum. The Tribunal was therefore not justified in treating the penalty as discretionary; if penalty is leviable under Section 11AC, it must be equal to the duty determined. Case-Laws Central Excise Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=759