- (1.) Heard Shri S.D. Singh learned counsel for the appellant. Shri S.P. Kesarwani appears for the opposite parties.
(2.) All these four Central Excise Appeals, under Section 35G of the Central Excise Act, 1944 , arise out of the orders passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi,2009 246 ELT 457 (Tri. - Del.)] in Central Excise Appeal Nos. 446, 447, 448 and 449 of 2009 by the appellant-company and the three directors of the company, against the adjudication order of the Commissioner, Central Excise, Noida dated 23-9-2008 confirming the payment of Central Excise Duty (including cess) amounting to Rs. 2,68,12,628/- (Rs. Two crores sixty-eight lacs, twelve thousands six hundred and twenty eight) and also the penalty of the like amount, on the company under the proviso to Section 11A(1) and Section 11AC read with Rule 25 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002. The Commissioner has also imposed penalty of Rs. 2,60,00,000/- (Rupees two crores and sixty lacs) on Shri Sunil Kumar Bansal, and Rs. 2,50,00,000/- (two crores and fifty lacs) on Shri Praveen Bansal, Directors of the Company, and Rs. 2,30,00,000/- (two crores and thirty lacs) on Shri Richh Pal Singh, Manager of the company, under Rule 25 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002.
(3.) The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi has by a common order dated 29-7-2009 partly allowed the applications for waiver of the pre-deposit of the Central Excise Duty and penalty on the company to the extent that the Directors and the Manager of the company have been required to deposit only Rs. 10 lakhs each as pre-condition of filing of their appeals. By order dated 13-8-2009, this court had, restrained the Appellate Tribunal to decide the appeals until 1st September, 2009, if they were not already decided. The court declared 1st September, 2009 as holiday and thus these all the appeals have come up for hearing today.;