TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1984 (7) TMI 258
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....der his order dated 31-12-1978 the Collector of Central Excise, Calcutta, held that six or more workers were employed by the appellant in its factory and hence, the appellant was not entitled to the benefits under Notification No. 90/76, dated 16-3-1976. On that conclusion he imposed a penalty of Rs. 35,000/- and also demanded duty amounting to Rs. 31,162.50 ps. relating to the period 21-10-1976 to 20-1-1977. On an appeal by the appellant against the said order the Central Board of Excise & Customs by Order dated 29-5-1980 confirmed the said order except to the extent of reducing the penalty to Rs. 20,000/-. It is against the said order dated 29-5-1980 that the revision petition had been preferred to the Government. 3. Shri M. Ganes....
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....been preferred in August, 1980, the judgment of the Criminal Court being rendered in March, 1982. The prosecution appears to have been for violation of Section 9 of the Central Excises & Salt Act, the substance of the complaint being that though the appellant was not entitled to the benefits under Notification No. 90 of 1976 and had, therefore, to take out the necessary licence and maintain the necessary records and to remove the manufactured commodity after payment of excise duty only, the appellant had failed to do so. Therefore, in that case also the main question to be decided was whether the appellant company had employed more than five workers in its manufacturing process, which is the main question to be decided in the present appeal....
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....al Court on the same facts, the domestic Tribunal were to come to a different conclusion on the same facts. But there cannot be a complete prohibition against the Tribunal coming to a different conclusion, for it is well-known that the Tribunal is not bound by several rules that are binding on appreciation of the evidence by a Criminal Court." It is, therefore, clear that the judgment of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, while it may be of some persuasive value, would not be binding on this Tribunal in the sense that the Tribunal should necessarily follow the finding of the Criminal Court and dispose of this appeal in consonance with the said findings as laid down in the latter Madras decision cited by Shri Sachar. It would be open to this ....
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....t. 6. The records and documents maintained in this factory like attendance register, stock registers, etc., are written and maintained by me. Preparation of Bill, Challan for the goods dispatched to the party and purchaser, defective materials from the market for the factory. There is another man designated as watchman named Subhash. He performs the duty in the night only and his duty is to look after the factory side." Items 1 to 3 of the above list would normally be sufficient to establish that Shri Gupta was also engaged in work relating to the manufacturing process, though his designation may be clerk/salesman. In that event he should also be included in the number of workers for decidi....
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.... the hand-writing of Shri Gupta and, as pointed out by the Collector in his order, the manner in which the statement is worded and the clerical mistakes therein, show that the statement must have been the free statement of Shri Gupta and not made to the dictation of the officials. Nor has it been proved through any evidence during the adjudication that any threat or coercion was exercised to obtain the statement of Shri Gupta on 21-1-1977. Shri Gupta was the third accused in the criminal case. The statement on 21-1-1979 does not appear to have been brought on record as evidence in the criminal case and so was not considered by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate in his judgment. In the circumstances, it has to be necessarily held, on the ....