Exercise utmost caution in arrests: CBEC to excise officials

The CBEC has asked its officers to exercise utmost caution while arresting persons for cognisable and non-bailable offences for alleged violation of excise duty laws.
"Powers to arrest a person needs to be exercised with utmost caution. Chief Commissioners/Commissioners of Central Excise are required to ensure that approval for arrest for non-bailable offence is granted only where the intent to evade duty is evident and element of mens rea/ guilty mind is palpable," CBEC said in a communication to field formations.
The Finance Act 2013 has made certain offences where the excise duty evasion exceeds Rs 50 lakh as congnisable and non-bailable and gave powers to the officers of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to arrest the alleged offenders.

The list of offences for which a CBEC Commissioner is empowered to order arrest, include clandestine removal of manufactured goods, removal of without declaring correct value, taking Cenvat credit on fake invoices and issuing cenvatable invoices without delivery of goods.
In certain cases, Commissioners have to take permission of their jurisdictional Chief Commissioners.
The communication further said that decision to arrest needs to be taken on case-to-case basis considering various factors, such as, nature and gravity of offence, quantum of duty evaded or credit wrongfully availed.
"...Power to arrest has to be exercised after careful consideration of the facts of the case," it said, adding, arrested person should be produced with the appropriate magistrate within 24 hours.

There are only 1.2 lakh excise duty assesses in the country.