1999 (5) TMI 209 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues:
1. Benefit of Notification No. 1/93 availability for excisable goods cleared in the financial year 1994-95.

Analysis:
The appeal involved the question of whether M/s. Searsole Chemicals Ltd. was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 1/93 for the excisable goods cleared during the financial year 1994-95. The Notification had been amended by Notification No. 125/94, which extended the benefit to factories registered with the Director General of Technical Development. The Appellants claimed this benefit in their revised classification list, but the Assistant Collector and the Collector (Appeals) disallowed it, citing that the total clearance value had exceeded the exemption limit of Rs. 75 lakhs for the financial year. The Appellants argued that the aggregate value of clearance in the preceding financial year was the basis for eligibility under the Notification, and the value of clearance for excisable goods in 1993-94 was below the threshold due to the product becoming excisable only on 1-3-1994.

The Appellants' request for adjournment was denied, and the case was heard. The Appellants contended that the Notification's benefit should not be denied based on the current financial year's clearance value, as long as the aggregate value in the preceding financial year did not exceed the specified limit. The Tribunal noted that the Notification stipulated that the benefit would not be available if the aggregate value of clearance of excisable goods exceeded Rs. 200 lakhs in the preceding financial year. The Collector (Appeals) had incorrectly concluded that the Appellants had crossed the limit in the current financial year, without establishing that the clearance value in the preceding financial years had exceeded the threshold. Therefore, the Tribunal allowed the appeal, ruling in favor of the Appellants and granting them the benefit of Notification No. 1/93 for the goods cleared during the financial year 1994-95.