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2013 (9) TMI 343 - AT - Central ExciseDefault in Monthly Payment - Penalty under Rule 25 of Central Excise Rules, 2002 - Revenue was of the view that the appellants defaulted in monthly payment of duty in the month of July 2008 to November 2008 beyond 30 days and cleared the goods by utilizing the CENVAT credit and without payment of duty exclusively from the account current during the default period as contravention of provisions of Rule 8(3A) of Central Excise Rules, 2002 - Held that:- Penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs vis-à-vis duty involved of Rs. 8.25 lakhs was harsh and reduction was warranted - It would not be fair to impose penalty to the extent of 60% of duty when the omission was limited to default of payment of duty and the same had been discharged with interest - In fact, CENVAT account had been debited and therefore it cannot be said that there was removal without payment of duty - Relying upon CCE, Meerut v. Kitply Industries Ltd.[ 2010 (2) TMI 221 - ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT] - Penalty under Section 11AC was not imposable in cases where default had occurred because of bona fide mistaken belief - It was only a deemed removal without payment of duty - Penalty of Rs. 50,000 under Rule 25 would meet the ends of justice in the case - while rejecting the appeal otherwise penalty was reduced. Rule 8(3A) provided that in the case of default beyond 30 days, the facilities of monthly payment of duty and utilization of CENVAT Credit during the period of default was withdrawn without any necessity of any specific order in this regard by the Assistant Commissioner or the Dy. Commissioner - It had become the responsibility of the assessee to pay duty consignment-wise from account current and clear the goods - In the event of failure, the goods were to be deemed to have been cleared without payment of duty and the consequences and penalties as provided in the Central Excise Rules were to follow – Decided partly in favour of Assessee.
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