9911796707
TMI Blog2013 (10) TMI 714X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... clearances, they were required to obtain Central Excise registration or they were not eligible for Central Excise registration - There is no seizure of any documents from the unit showing that their clearances during 2010-2011 or 2011-2012 were beyond the threshold limit for SSI exemption - Up till now no show cause notice has been issued to the unit for denying SSI exemption to them and demanding duty - Prima facie during the period of dispute, the appellant unit was not even required to obtain Central Excise registration and was not even to required to maintain the statutory record, and therefore, the imposition of penalty for clearing without invoice and not maintaining records of the impugned goods, does not appear to be correct - The a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oods have been removed in a similar manner. Statement of Alex John, Accountant, was recorded on the same day who stated that the goods were being removed without any invoice, that the invoice on receipt of the consignments used to be destroyed, and that actual value of the clearances of the excisable goods of the unit during 2011-2012 would be about Rs. 4.5 crores. The statement of Shri Manish Nathani was also recorded, wherein he admitted the clearance of goods without invoice, but neither any question was put on him with regard to correctness or otherwise of the statement of Shri Alex John nor he made any statement on this point. Accordingly, on the basis of statement of Shri Alex John, the Investigating Officers being under reasonable be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ons. 3. Shri S.K. Pahwa, Advocate, the learned Counsel for the appellant, pleaded that other than the statement of Shri Alex John which had been recorded under duress, there is no other evidence regarding the actual sale turnover of the appellant company, as no documents have been recovered, that even Shri Manish Nathani has not said anything about the actual value of clearances of the unit during 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, that when the total value of the clearances of the units was even below the threshold limit for SSI exemption, the appellant unit was not required to maintain the statutory record and, hence, there is no question of confiscation of the goods on the ground on which the same has been confiscated, that in this regard, he rel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appellant company is more than Rs. 4 crores. He also pleaded that in view of the statement of Shri Alex John, the unit was not eligible for SSI exemption and, hence, the goods are correctly confiscated and penalty has been correctly imposed. He, therefore, pleaded that this is not a case for waiver from the requirement of pre-deposit. 5. I have carefully considered the submissions from both the sides and perused the records. 6. The clearances of the unit during 2010-2011 were worth Rs. 27,00,000/- as per their income tax return and during 2011-2012 their clearances worth Rs. 57,00,000/-. During both these years, on the basis of their value of clearances, they were not only eligible for full duty exemption but were also exempted from the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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