ROCHI RAM & SONS Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These three appeals arise out of the common judgment of the learned Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, dated 6-4-2004, deciding Excise Appeals No. 2666, 2667, 2668 and 2669. The Appeal No. 16/2005 seeks to challenge the order, passed in Excise Appeal No. 2667, while Appeal No. 17/2005 seeks to challenge the order, passed in Excise Appeal No. 2669, and Appeal No. 18/2005 seeks to challenge the order, passed in Excise Appeal No. 2666. These three appeals are by three different appellants, but are closely interrelated, and are, therefore, being decided by this common order.

(2.) Necessary facts are, that the officers of the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence searched the premises of the three appellants on 3-5-2001, under the belief, that they were evading Central Excise Duty, by clandestinely removing the excisable goods, without payment of duty, and were misusing the Modvat credit scheme, by diverting inputs, namely mechanical watch movements, on which credit was being availed. The relevant records were resumed under the respective Panchnamas, prepared at the premises, on the said date for further investigation. The stock verification of excisable goods was also conducted at the various premises, which is said to have led to detection of variation in stock, as indicated in the show cause notice. Thereafter, reply to show cause notices were filed by different persons, and certain evidence was also recorded, and ultimately the learned Commissioner passed the order Annex.1, dated 10-3-2004, confirming various demands, and levying various penalties on different appellants. We need not quote the operative part of the order, as even the operative part runs into three long closely typed pages. The appeals were filed against the order, and the learned Tribunal passed the impugned order.

(3.) The broad controversy was about procuring mechanical watch movements, and not using them, and clandestine removal of watches, and some discrepancy about the number of watch cases, and watch movements etc .