2019 (5) TMI 325

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....at it is a Public Sector undertaking engaged in manufacture and marketing of various petroleum products including LPG. During the audit conducted by the respondent-department it was observed that there was mismatch between production figure of LPG shown in ER1 returns and financial report for the financial year 2004-05. Appellant was put to show-cause notice proposing duty demand of Rs. 23,82,576/- vide show-cause notice dated 31.03.2009 along with interest and equivalent penalty. The matter was adjudicated whereby said demand etc. were confirmed. Appeal preferred by the appellant before the Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals)-II, Mumbai, yielded no fruitful result. Hence the appeal before this forum. 3. In the memo of appeal and du....

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....l), Triveni Engg. & Industries - 2016 334 ELT 595 (All) & Auto Gollon Industries - 2018 (360) ELT 29 (All). He further argued that the entire case is based on assumption and presumption and it is a settled principle of law that suspicion howsoever grave cannot take the place of proof. He relied upon the case laws reported in 1978 ELT J-172 (SC), 2005 (188) ELT 470 (SC), 2009 (245) ELT 695 (T), 2017 (358) ELT 389 (T) and earnestly urged to set aside the order passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) as appellant being a Public Sector Undertaking had no deliberate intention to evade duty. 4. Learned AR for the respondent-department Shri Sanjay Hasija, Superintendent, in response to such submissions, supported the reasoning and rationality of t....

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....s taken whereas in the removal column, three type of figures are shown including removal of reprocessed quantity and there is a reference in the same paragraph that quantity reprocessed is accounted separately in ER1 return. The adjudicating authority further observed that such subtraction of quantity for reprocessing from manufactured quantity was only to tally the same with two financial records. At para 24 of Order-in-Original, it has been referred by the adjudicating authority that 5.080 TMT of LPG was stated by the appellant to have been captively consumed but he disbelieved the same due to non-maintenance of proper records for which he hold a finding that clandestine removal had taken place and the same is not required to be proved (b....