law: Central Excise Act, 1944
  8. OFFENCES AND PENALTIES 
  
  [ 39 (1) 39 ] Whoever
  
  commits any of the following offences, namely : -
  [ 40 (a) contravenes any of the provisions of section 8 or of a
  
  rule made under clause (iii) or clause (xxvii) of sub-section (2) of section
  
  37; 40 ]
  ( b ) evades the
  
  payment of any duty payable under this Act;
  [ 41 (bb) removes any
  
  excisable goods in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or any
  
  rules made thereunder or in any way concerns himself
  
  with such removal;
  ( bbb ) acquires
  
  possession of, or in any way concerns himself in transporting, depositing,
  
  keeping, concealing, selling or purchasing, or in any other manner deals with
  
  any excisable goods which he knows or has reason to believe are liable to
  
  confiscation under this Act or any rule made thereunder ;
  
  41 ]
  [ 41a ( bbbb )
  
  contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made  thereunder in relation to credit of any duty allowed to be
  
  utilized towards payment of excise duty on final products; 41a ]
  (c) fails to supply
  
  any information which he is required by rules made under this Act to supply, or
  
  (unless with a reasonable belief, the burden of proving which shall be upon
  
  him, that the information supplied by him is true) supplies false information;
  (d) attempts to
  
  commit, or abets the commission of, any of the offences mentioned in clauses
  
  (a) and (b) of this section;
  [ 42  shall be punishable, -
  ( i ) in the case of an offence relating to any excisable goods,
  
  the duty leviable thereon under this Act exceeds one  lakh of rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may
  
  extend to seven years and with fine :
  Provided  that in the absence of special and
  
  adequate reasons to the contrary to be recorded in the judgment of the Court
  
  such imprisonment shall not be for a term of less than six months;
  (ii) in any other
  
  case, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine
  
  or with both. 42 ]
  [ 43  (2) If any person convicted of an offence
  
  under this section is again convicted of an offence under this section, then,
  
  he shall be punishable 'for the second and for every subsequent offence with
  
  imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and with fine :
  Provided  that in the absence of special and adequate
  
  reasons to the contrary to be recorded in the judgment of the Court such
  
  imprisonment shall not be for a term of less than six months.
  (3) For the purposes of sub-sections (1) and (2), the following
  
  shall not be considered as special and adequate reasons for awarding a sentence
  
  of imprisonment for a term of less than six months, namely :-
  ( i ) the fact that the accused has been convicted for the first
  
  time for an offence under this Act;
  (ii) the fact that in any proceeding under
  
  this Act, other than a prosecution, the accused has been ordered to pay a
  
  penalty or the goods in relation to such proceedings have been ordered to be
  
  confiscated or any other action has been taken against him for the same act
  
  which constitutes the offence;
  (iii) the fact that
  
  the accused was not the principal offender and was acting merely as a carrier
  
  of goods or otherwise was a secondary party in the commission of the offence;
  (iv) the age of the
  
  accused. 43 ]