https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=795464 At the discharge stage, criminal prosecution for alleged central excise-duty evasion requires a strong suspicion based on material capable of becoming admissible evidence; the court cannot conduct a mini-trial or require certainty of conviction. Although witnesses proved the existence of show-cause notices and excise adjudication orders, they lacked personal knowledge of the alleged evasion, the underlying records were not produced, and the investigation did not identify the methods of evasion. Adjudicatory findings and penalties alone cannot establish criminal liability without independent admissible evidence. The accused were therefore properly discharged for want of a prima facie case. en-us Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:42:57 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=795464 At the discharge stage, criminal prosecution for alleged central excise-duty evasion requires a strong suspicion based on material capable of becoming admissible evidence; the court cannot conduct a mini-trial or require certainty of conviction. Although witnesses proved the existence of show-cause notices and excise adjudication orders, they lacked personal knowledge of the alleged evasion, the underlying records were not produced, and the investigation did not identify the methods of evasion. Adjudicatory findings and penalties alone cannot establish criminal liability without independent admissible evidence. The accused were therefore properly discharged for want of a prima facie case. Case-Laws Central Excise Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=795464