https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=48007 Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, read with Rule 173Q of the Central Excise Rules, was treated as prescribing a maximum penalty rather than an inflexible fixed penalty in every case. The assessing authority and Tribunal retain discretion to impose a lesser penalty according to the facts, the nature of the contravention, and the surrounding circumstances. The reference to statutory reduction to 25% on timely payment was noted as supporting this construction. The Tribunal was therefore entitled to interfere where the facts justified reduction, and the reduced penalty was upheld. en-us Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0530 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:23:56 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=48007 Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, read with Rule 173Q of the Central Excise Rules, was treated as prescribing a maximum penalty rather than an inflexible fixed penalty in every case. The assessing authority and Tribunal retain discretion to impose a lesser penalty according to the facts, the nature of the contravention, and the surrounding circumstances. The reference to statutory reduction to 25% on timely payment was noted as supporting this construction. The Tribunal was therefore entitled to interfere where the facts justified reduction, and the reduced penalty was upheld. Case-Laws Central Excise Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=48007