2005 (6) TMI 346

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....e above products without payment of duty, claiming the benefit of exemption under a Notification. This was objected to by the department, who classified the goods under S.H 5911.90 and demanded duty accordingly. The Show cause notice dated 5-4-2002, which raised this demand, also proposed penalty on the appellants. Though this notice was contested, the party accepted the department's view on classification and accordingly paid duty on the goods for the above period during the course of adjudication of the notice. The only issue before the adjudicating authority was whether the assessee was liable to be penalised under Rules 25 and 27 of the Central Excise (No. 2) Rules, 2001. The authority answered this question in the affirmative and impos....

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....ty or interest on duty is not leviable from the assessee in the above circumstances. The appellants had no intent to evade payment of duty at any point of time. Hence the penalty provisions were not invocable against them. Ld. DR reiterates the findings of the lower appellate authority and submits that 'misdeclaration' is covered by the expression 'misstatement' occurring in Section 11AB of the Central Excise Act which provides for levy of interest on duty, non-paid, non-levied, short-paid, short-levied etc. According to the ld. DR, the acceptance, by the appellants, of the department's classification of the goods amounted admission of misdeclaration of the goods and consequently the demand for interest under Section 11AB is justifiable. Ld....