TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (11) TMI 200
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....sis of an intelligence report that the appellant is not properly discharging the duty liability, the team of central excise officers visited the factory premises and conducted preventive checks on 16.01.2015 and 17.01.2015. During their visit, physical stock verification of finished goods and raw materials were undertaken, which revealed shortages in the stocks of Iron Ore, Coal, Sponge Iron and Dolochar. Show cause notice dated 16.09.2016 was issued to the appellant proposing recovery of central excise duty amounting to Rs.21,79,258/- along with interest and penalty of equal amount. On adjudication, the demand was confirmed, basically relying on the admissions made by the authorized signatory of the appellant company regarding shortage of ....
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.... Revenue has failed to bring on record any clinching evidence in that regard as mere shortage of goods may arise in various situations, but does not necessarily reflect to any intention to evade duty. Since the Revenue has no conclusive evidence to prove collusion, fraud, or suppression of facts on the part of the appellant and, therefore, neither the extended period can be invoked nor penalty can be levied. 5. Learned Authorised Representative reiterated the findings of the Authorities below and also on the statement made by Shri Shikhar Agarwal, the Authorised Signatory of the appellant, where he admitted that he was satisfied with the manner of stock taking in the panchnama proceedings, carried out in their factory premises and accepted....
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....al of the goods without payment of duty and without accounting thereof in the records. Further, he agreed with the verification of records with physical stock by the officers and accepted the lapse of the stock found short. Coupled with the admissions made by Shri Shikar Agarwal, the modus operandi of the appellant of not maintaining any kind of Daily Stock at the factory premises, not making entry of final products in the daily production register, not issuing any invoices in respect of excisable goods cleared and neither declared the production and clearance of excisable goods so manufactured and cleared in the ER-1 Returns only reflects that shortage of the finished goods and the raw materials during the physical verification at the time....
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....Tribunal in the case of Ramachandra Rexins Pvt. Limited v. CCE, Bangalore - 2013 (295) E.L.T. 116 (Tri.-Bang.), considered the issue in detail. The Hon'ble Supreme Court as reported in 2014 (302) E.L.T. A61 (S.C.), while upholding the decision of the Tribunal held as under :- "Tribunal further held that in a case of clandestine activity involving suppression of production and clandestine removal, it is not expected that such evasion has to be established by Department with mathematical precision. A person indulging in clandestine activity takes sufficient precaution to hide/destroy the evidence. The evidence available shall be those left in spite of the best care taken by the persons involved in such clandestine activity. In quasi-j....
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.... categorically noted that the panchnama makes it clear that the search warrant was shown to Shri Ram Avtar Agarwal, Director of the appellant and he had signed the search warrant. On the issue that the show cause notice, the relied upon documents and the personal hearing notices were not received by the appellant, we find that the appellant is mis-leading as the acknowledgement receipts of the show cause notices duly signed by the authorized signatory of the appellant are on record. In fact this Tribunal had called for the verification of service of show cause notice and the learned Authorised Representative produced the acknowledgement receipt that show cause notice was received by the appellant on October 06, 2016, as recorded in the Orde....