2016 (9) TMI 529 - AT - Central Excise

Rebate claim - duty paid on export of goods under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules when the appellants were working under area based exemption under Notification No.1/2010-CE dated 06.02.2010 - appellants have their factories located in the State of Jammu & Kashmir - Held that - the Notification No. 01/2010 dated 06.02.2010 has not been specified in the condition 2(h). Since this notification has not been specified in the condition, the same cannot be read into it to deny the rebate claim. The appellants have rightly placed reliance on several case laws which mandates that the working of the notification should be read plainly as an ordinary man would read. Words which are not there cannot be read into the notification. Inasmuch as the condition 2(h) has not made rebate inadmissible if the manufacturer is operating under Notification No. 01/2010, the lower authorities have wrongly denied the payment of rebate. - Decided in favour of appellant with consequential relief

Summary

Issues:
Whether the appellants are eligible for rebate of duty paid on export of goods under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules when working under area-based exemption under notification no.1/2010-CE dated 06.02.2010.

Analysis:
The four appeals in question dealt with the eligibility of the appellants for rebate of duty paid on exported goods under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules while operating under area-based exemption under notification no.1/2010-CE dated 06.02.2010. The appellants, manufacturers of various goods in Jammu & Kashmir, had their rebate claims rejected by the Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise, which was upheld by the Commissioner (Appeals), leading to the appeal before the Tribunal.

The issue revolved around the interpretation of Notification No. 1/2010-CE dated 06.02.2010, which provided exemption from Central Excise duty for specified goods cleared from units in Jammu & Kashmir. The authorities denied rebate claims citing condition 2(h) of Notification No. 19/2004-CE(NT) dated 06.09.2004, which stated that rebate would not be admissible for goods exported by manufacturers availing specified notifications granting area-based exemption. However, Notification No. 01/2010-CE dated 06/02/2010 was not included in this condition.

The appellants argued that since Notification No. 01/2010 was not specifically mentioned in condition 2(h) of Notification No. 19/2004-CE(NT), they should be entitled to rebate on duty paid for exported goods. They relied on various case laws emphasizing strict construction of notification wordings. The Tribunal noted that the absence of Notification No. 01/2010 in condition 2(h) meant that rebate denial based on this condition was incorrect, as additional conditions cannot be read into the notification.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the orders of the Commissioner (Appeals) and allowed the appeal, granting the appellants the rebate claimed on duty paid for exported goods.