9911796707
TMI Blog2021 (12) TMI 336X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the order dated 15th December, 2016 in Excise Appeal No. 383-384/07 passed by the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, East Regional Bench, Kolkata (Tribunal). The appellant/assessee has framed the following substantial questions of law for our consideration:- 1) Whether imposition of penalty on the company and its Director is maintainable in law when the initiation of proceeding was not permissible under Section 11A since there was no short-levy or non-levy of short payment of duty was existing on the date of initiation of proceeding ? 2) Whether the finding of the Tribunal is perverse while saying the imposition of penalty is likely to be mandatory when penalty under Rule 25 is not mandatory? 3) Whether imposition of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... matter thereafter proceeded further by issuance of show-cause notice. The assessee submitted its reply and contended that since the excise duty has been paid even prior to the issuance of the show-cause notice no penalty or interest is leviable and payable. This contention did not find favour with the adjudicating authority, who passed the order dated 15th December, 2016 confirming the proposal in the show-cause notice. Aggrieved by the same the assessee preferred an appeal to the Commissioner(Appeals- II) of Central Excise, Kolkata. The contention advanced by the first appellate authority was that no penalty and interest was payable when the amount of excise duty was paid much earlier to the issuance of the show-cause notice. Therefore, i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ggrieved by the same the assessee is before us by way of an appeal and the contention advanced by the learned Counsel for assessee that showcause notice itself was defective and Rule 25 of the Central Excise Rules and Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act should not have been read together as both operate in different fields and in so far as the penalty imposable under Rule 25 of the Central Excise Rule is concerned, the four contingency contemplated therein had to be satisfied for imposing penalty wherein Section 11AC of the Act is on an entire different footing. We find from the order of adjudication which has referred to the reply given by the assessee to the show-cause notice that such an alleged defect in the show-cause notice was nev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ich has been stipulated in the order of adjudication is that reduced penalty should be paid within 30 days from the date of receipt of the order of adjudication. Though such may be the condition but the same cannot negate the appellant/assessee's right to prefer a statutory appeal provided under the Act. Two tiers of appeal, have been provided for under the Act and, therefore, the proper interpretation to compute the period of thirty days for payment of the reduced penalty is that such period shall start from the date on which the matter attains finality. The present proceeding is an appeal against the order of the Tribunal which is a continuation of the original proceeding though strictly not in the nature of first appeal under the Code of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
