TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2007 (12) TMI 121
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....here was an armed robbery in their factory, leading to loss of dutiable goods before payment of duty and clearance. The Adjudicating Commissioner has relied on the decision of the Hon'ble Madras High Court in the case of Golden Hills Estates v. CCE, Madras - 1997(90) E.L.T. 301 (Mad.), saying that theft cannot be considered as an unavoidable accident for the purpose of grant of remission of duty u....
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....le 21 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 provides for remission of duty only for goods lost or destroyed by natural causes or by unavoidable accident or claimed by the manufacturer as unfit for consumption or for marketing. Goods stolen, pilferred and taken away by robbers etc. are not covered under the said Rule 21, according to him. He points out that from the report given by the police in this c....
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.... the Hon'ble Member of the Tribunal, while passing a Stay Order, is not very apt as the said decision of the Delhi High Court was rendered in the context of Section 23 of the Customs Act, 1962 and the said Section 23 while dealing with goods lost, destroyed and abandoned, specifically keeps out from its purview, goods lost as a result of pilferage. I also find that Rule 21 allows remission of duty....