- (1.) Heard Mr. Pankaj Bhatia in support of this appeal and Dr. Ashok Nigam, Additional Solicitor General, assisted by Mr. Jaffar Moonis, appears for the respondent Commissioner of Central Excise.
(2.) This appeal is filed to challenge the order passed by the Custom, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, dated 15-2-2007. The appellant is a manufacture of G.I. wire and barbed wire, having its factory at Kanpur. The factory was checked on 13-11-1995 and on noting clandestine removal, appropriate order of adjudication was passed and an excise duty of Rs. 4,10,973.75/- was worked out. The appeal was preferred, wherein the order was confirmed by the Commissioner (Appeals). Thereafter, the appeal was preferred to the Tribunal and it is the Tribunal's order, which is under challenge.
(3.) Mr. Bhatia states that out of the liability arising out of the original order, an amount of Rs. 3,46,439/- had already been deposited, leaving a balance of Rs. 64,534.70, rounded up to Rs. 65,000/-. There is also a penalty of Rs. 1,00,000/-. Mr. Bhatia submits that one of the activities of the appellant was to draw wires from the wire rods and this activity has been held to be not amounting to manufacture in a judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Collector of Central Excise V/s. Technoweld Industries, 2003 155 ELT 209. The appellant raised this point in the appeal to the Tribunal. The Tribunal declined to go into this question by holding that this particular point was not raised either before the adjudicating authority or before the Commissioner (Appeals). The Tribunal has also noted that the appellant was taking credit in respect of the inputs and was clearing the goods on payment of duty. In any case, Mr. Bhatia makes a request that the appellant be given an opportunity to place the material on this appeal.;