https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=50423 A central excise demand based on an alleged stock shortage of polished granite slabs could not be sustained where the department failed to prove clandestine removal. The shortage was found during verification, but broken slabs and tiles lying in the factory were not accounted for, the shortage was small against overall production, and no evidence of illicit removal was shown. The duty demand also failed because the valuation of the missing quantity was not reliably established: the assessing authority lacked adequate material on the nature and quality of the goods. As the penalty under Rule 173Q depended entirely on the unsupported duty demand, it too was set aside. en-us Mon, 08 Jan 2001 00:00:00 +0530 Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:08:17 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=50423 A central excise demand based on an alleged stock shortage of polished granite slabs could not be sustained where the department failed to prove clandestine removal. The shortage was found during verification, but broken slabs and tiles lying in the factory were not accounted for, the shortage was small against overall production, and no evidence of illicit removal was shown. The duty demand also failed because the valuation of the missing quantity was not reliably established: the assessing authority lacked adequate material on the nature and quality of the goods. As the penalty under Rule 173Q depended entirely on the unsupported duty demand, it too was set aside. Case-Laws Central Excise Mon, 08 Jan 2001 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=50423