Raju ORDER
P.K. Choudhary, Member (J)
1. The instant Appeal has been filed by the assessee M/s. Ambica Iron & Steel Private Limited (hereinafter referred to as the Appellant) against the Order-in-Original dated 26.04.2017 passed by the learned Commissioner, Central Excise, Customs & Service Tax, Rourkela Commissionerate confirming the demand of Central Excise duty of Rs. 4,70,51,370/- along with interest and imposition of equal amount of penalty under Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, 1944 read with Rule 24 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002.
2. Briefly stated the facts of the case are that the Appellant is engaged in the manufacture of rolled products i.e. MS Angles, MS Channels, MS Plates, MS Rods etc. classifiable under Chapter 72 of the Central Excise Tariff Act on which Central Excise duty is being paid. In the process manufacture, some quantity of MS Scraps (Melting Scrap) is also generated as bi-product. The Appellant used Mild Steel Ingots (MS Ingots) as raw material for manufacture of rolled products. On the basis of investigation carried out by the Department, the Show Cause Notice (SCN) dated 02.06.2016 was issued wherein it was alleged that the Appellant had resorted to clandestine production and removal of finished goods without payment of Central Excise duty. The learned Commissioner adjudicated the Show Cause Notice vide the impugned order dated 26.04.2017, wherein he compared the kacha chithas with raw material procurement register and observed that the raw of 14198.34 MT was unaccounted during the period from 01.07.2015 to 30.11.2015. Further, he observed that raw material of 258.14 MT has been wrongly entered as finished goods and hence it is required to be included in the raw material quantity of 14198.34 MT thus making the total unaccounted raw material quantity to be 14456.48 MT. It is the contention of the learned Commissioner that finished products of 13884.84 MT have been cleared clandestinely and the appellant is liable to pay Central Excise duty to the tune of Rs. 4,61,54,173/- on the said clearance quantity. Further, he has observed that quantity of 380.39 MT of melting scrap cleared is liable to duty and the Appellant is required to pay Rs. 8,97,197/- on such quantity of melting scrap. Based on the said observations, the learned Commissioner has concluded that the excess clearance of 13884.84 MT of finished goods showing in the Kachha Chithas leads to an unmistakable conclusion that the Appellant has resorted to suppression of production and clandestine removal of their finished goods by utilizing 14456.48 MT of unaccounted raw material. Being aggrieved, the Appellant has preferred the present Appeal before the Tribunal.
3. Shri Kartick Kurmy, learned Advocate appearing on behalf of the Appellant submits that by the impugned order, the learned Commissioner has held that the Appellant has purportedly clandestinely manufactured and removed excisable final products without payment of duty. The learned Commissioner has further confiscated Indian currency of Rs. 1,69,04,700/- under Section 121 of the Customs Act, 1962 as made applicable to Central Excise Act, 1944, which was seized on the day of search treating it purportedly related to clandestine clearance during the period from July 2015 to November 2015 and dated 07.12.2015. On dated 08.12.2015, the officers of Rourkela Commissionerates carried out simultaneous search operations at -
(i) The Factory premises, (Panchnama at Page 448 Vol-II);
(ii) Registered Office Rourkela, (Panchnama at Page 449 Vol-II)
(iii) Residential Premises of Shri Akhil Gupta, Director
(iv) Residence of Shri Sanjay Bansal, Director, (Panchnama at Page 450 Vol-II).
4. The learned Advocate for the Appellant made detailed arguments and also submitted a written submission. He submitted that the so called Kacha Chithas was never seized from........