TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2008 (3) TMI 186
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....f redemption fine of Rs. 1,00,000/-, confirming demand of central excise duty amounting to Rs. 49,600/- and, also, imposing penalty of equal amount under Section 11 AC of Central Excise Act, 1944 read with rule 173 Q of Central Excise Rules 1944, with interest at the appropriate rate. The tempo which was carrying the goods in question was also confiscated with option to redeem the same on payment of redemption fine of Rs. 10,000/-. 2. Facts of the case, briefly, are that in the intervening might of 5/6 February 2001, a tempo bearing registration No. DL 1 LD 0022 carrying copper wire rods was intercepted at M.K. Dharam Kanta, Wazirpur Industrial Area, Delhi. The driver of the tempo who also claimed to be its owner namely Chander Pal produ....
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....ording these facts and the satisfaction that the goods were liable to be confiscated, the same was seized along with the tempo under Panchnama on the spot on 06/2/01. 3. The statement of Om Prakash Gosain, Proprietor of M/s Gosain Wire Industries was recorded in the same morning at 8 a.m. He stated that he had not received any supply of copper wire rods against invoice No. 54 dated 05/2/01. On scrutiny of the records of M/s Gosain Wire Industries and physical verification of the finished goods the inputs tallied with the last recorded balance. Later, the statement of Rakesh Kumar, Proprietor of M/s Shah Steel Rolling Mills was also recorded on 09/2/01. He stated that the Accountant prepared the invoice at 1020 hrs. on 05/2/01 for dispatc....
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....ion fine of Rs. 1,00,000/- on total value of goods as found by the Department i.e. Rs. 3,10,000/. 6. On behalf of the Revenue it was submitted that the statement of the driver was recorded on the spot. In his statement he disclosed the name of the appellant the premises from where the goods had been loaded, and the manner. He also happened to be owner of the vehicle and he was supposed to know the laden weight of the vehicle and therefore discrimination of the weight of the goods after deducting the laden weight of the tempo as declared by him cannot be said to be arbitrary. It was submitted that it is the usual practice that the goods are weighed along with the vehicle. It was pointed out that the movement of goods was clearly clandesti....
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....udged under the Act or the rules made thereunder, the officer shall give the owner of the goods an option to pay in lieu of confiscation such fine as the officer may think fit. The provision is somewhat different form those of Section 125 of the Customs Act which contains similar provision regarding payment of redemption fine in lieu of confiscation, the proviso thereto however lays down that such fine shall not exceed the market price of the goods confiscated less, in the case of imported goods, the duty chargeable thereon. In the absence of any like provision in Section 34 of the Central Excise Act the authority would appear to have a wide discretion in the matter of quantification of the redemption fine as he deems fit. In my opinion, ho....