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TMI Blog2018 (9) TMI 1563X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... may, to some extent, be common. In addition to confronting the assessee with the contents of the show-cause notice issued by the Excise department, the Assessing Officer has done little else. By merely producing the copies of the statements of the witnesses accompanying the show-cause notices, such statements and the veracity thereof does not get automatically established. AO merely cosmetically gave an opportunity to the assessee to meet with such allegations, virtually, shifting the burden of proving the evasion of duty that had taken place on the assessee. We have perused the entire order of assessment. There is no independent material brought on record by the Assessing Officer other than those which were already collected by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uring the search? 3. Similar issues came up for consideration before this Court in case of The Principal Commissioner of Income Tax Rajkot-3 vs. Vrundavan Ceramics Pvt. Ltd. in Tax Appeal No. 82 of 2016 and connected appeals. These appeals were dismissed in following manner: 10. Having thus cleared the peripheral issues, we may examine the central question viz. did the Assessing Officer have sufficient material at his command to believe evasion of tax? We have noticed the broad modus operandi stated to have been adopted by the assessees as per the excise show-cause notices. Admittedly, these show-cause notices are only at such stage without in any of these cases the final orders of adjudication have been passed by the Excis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... material brought on record by the Assessing Officer other than those which were already collected by the Excise department and which, as noted earlier, are yet to be verified. 12. Counsel for the assessees drew our attention to a judgement of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal in which, the order of adjudication passed in case of one of the ceramic units (not an assessee before us) by the Adjudicating authority came to be set aside. However, for the following reasons we do not wish to place any reliance on this judgement : Firstly, the excise show-cause notices in case of the present assessees are yet to be adjudicated. What would be the material on record during such proceedings is not possible for us to for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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