https://www.taxtmi.com/article/detailed?id=16647 Departmental adjudication and criminal prosecution under the Central Excise Act, 1944 may proceed in parallel at the initial stage, but prosecution cannot continue where the competent appellate authority has decided the same dispute on merits in favour of the assessee and held that the alleged contravention is not established. A criminal complaint founded only on that rejected allegation becomes vulnerable to being treated as an abuse of process, especially where no independent criminal basis survives apart from the failed revenue demand. en-us Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:37:42 +0530 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:27:45 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/article/detailed?id=16647 Departmental adjudication and criminal prosecution under the Central Excise Act, 1944 may proceed in parallel at the initial stage, but prosecution cannot continue where the competent appellate authority has decided the same dispute on merits in favour of the assessee and held that the alleged contravention is not established. A criminal complaint founded only on that rejected allegation becomes vulnerable to being treated as an abuse of process, especially where no independent criminal basis survives apart from the failed revenue demand. Articles Central Excise Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:37:42 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/article/detailed?id=16647