https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=771257 Central excise duty demand based on pen-drive data and confessional statements was held unsustainable because the electronic material did not satisfy the statutory requirements for admissibility of electronic evidence, including the necessary certificate and proper provenance of the output. The pen drives were not properly seized, and the retrieval of printouts did not meet the safeguards for electronic records. The allegation of clandestine manufacture and removal also failed for want of independent corroboration such as excess raw material, excess power consumption, extra labour, cash trail, or transport evidence. Clandestine removal must be proved by tangible and affirmative evidence, not unauthenticated data or unverified statements. en-us Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 21 May 2025 15:37:54 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=771257 Central excise duty demand based on pen-drive data and confessional statements was held unsustainable because the electronic material did not satisfy the statutory requirements for admissibility of electronic evidence, including the necessary certificate and proper provenance of the output. The pen drives were not properly seized, and the retrieval of printouts did not meet the safeguards for electronic records. The allegation of clandestine manufacture and removal also failed for want of independent corroboration such as excess raw material, excess power consumption, extra labour, cash trail, or transport evidence. Clandestine removal must be proved by tangible and affirmative evidence, not unauthenticated data or unverified statements. Case-Laws Central Excise Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=771257