Judgment:
1. The application for stay has been moved by the appellants against impugned order-in-original passed by the Commissioner of Central Excise, which directs them to make a payment of duty of Rs. 10,44,085/- and penalty of Rs. 5,000/-. The Commissioner vide the impugned order rejected the claim of the appellants for remission of duty on finished goods destroyed in an accidental fire, caused due to electric short circuit. While rejecting the claim the Commissioner had observed that, there is a grave lapse on the part of the assessee in not taking necessary precautions to safeguard the goods. He further finds that the fire fighting system and fire alarms were not adequate, which could have helped to control the damage. Consequently, he ordered recovery of duty and imposed penalty.
3. We note that there are no foolproof safety measures to avoid altogether accidental fires through electric short circuits. Even star hotels having best of the fire prevention system had been victims to such fires. The findings recorded in the order can as best be read as the lack of adequate fire fighting and alarm systems. We are unable to see any negligence, or any purposeful act of causing fire. We therefore hold that the appellants have a strong prima facie case to waive the pre-deposit of the entire amount of duty and penalty. Accordingly, we waive the pre-deposit of the entire amount and stay their recovery till the disposal of appeal.