G. Sankaran, Sr. Vice-President

1. These appeals are against Order-in-Original No. 23/Collr/MP/82 dated 18.8.1982 passed by the Collector of Central Excise, Kanpur. By this order, the Collector-

(a) imposed a penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs under Rules 9(2), 52A, 226 and 173Q of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 ("the Rules", for short) on Jain Industries;

(b) confiscated seized goods valued at Rs. 85,129.82 under Rules 173Q but allowed an option for redemption of the goods on payment of a fine of Rs. 20,000/-; and

(c) demanded under Rule 9(2) payment of Central Excise duty amounting to Rs. 6,96,800.43 on excisable goods (steel-furniture) cleared during the period 1975-76 to 1979-80.

2. We have Heard Shri. V. Sreedharan, Advocate, for the appellants and Shri L.C. Chakraborty, DR, for the respondent.

3. A few undisputed facts may be stated M/s. Jain Industries had an industrial unit at No. 87, Acharya Nagar, Kanpur, where furniture was being manufactured but without the aid of power. M/s. Techmechos had an industrial unit at 55, Industrial Estate, Kanpur, where manufacturing operations were being carried out with the aid of power. The former firm had father and two sons as partners while the lat