https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=34691 Departmental exoneration in adjudication proceedings does not automatically control a parallel criminal prosecution for excise offences, because the two proceedings are independent and the criminal court must still assess the evidence on record. A later finding on the same facts may be relevant, but it cannot by itself negate liability. For conviction, the prosecution must still establish the factual basis for the offence and the requisite culpable mental state beyond reasonable doubt. Where the evidence showed prior exemption treatment, competing declarations, and classification uncertainty without proof of deliberate evasion, mere non-payment of duty or absence of a licence was insufficient to sustain criminal liability. en-us Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=34691 Departmental exoneration in adjudication proceedings does not automatically control a parallel criminal prosecution for excise offences, because the two proceedings are independent and the criminal court must still assess the evidence on record. A later finding on the same facts may be relevant, but it cannot by itself negate liability. For conviction, the prosecution must still establish the factual basis for the offence and the requisite culpable mental state beyond reasonable doubt. Where the evidence showed prior exemption treatment, competing declarations, and classification uncertainty without proof of deliberate evasion, mere non-payment of duty or absence of a licence was insufficient to sustain criminal liability. Case-Laws Central Excise Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=34691