Exemption under notification failed where binding precedent governed cotton fabric count and sample-based batch limitation was rejected.

Exemption under Notification No. 251/82-C.E. was denied because the tribunal applied earlier binding decisions governing the cotton fabric count and held that the claimed basis for exemption was not established. The assessee's contention that the sample had been drawn from only one batch, while the goods were processed in different batches on different dates, did not displace the adverse test result or the precedent relied upon. The duty demand was not confined to the batch from which the sample was taken, and the denial of exemption was sustained.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 251/82-C.E. dated 8-11-1982 on the basis of the cotton fabric count, and whether duty demand could be restricted to the batch from which the sample was drawn.

Analysis: The assessee challenged the adverse test report and asserted that the sample had been drawn from one batch only, while the total quantity had been processed in different batches on different dates. The Tribunal found the facts to be covered by the earlier decisions relied upon, which supported the rejection of the claim for exemption on the pleaded basis.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to the claimed exemption and the duty demand was not restricted as contended.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the order denying the exemption claim was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the facts are governed by binding precedent on the applicability of an exemption notification, the claimed exemption cannot be allowed merely by asserting that the sample represented only one batch.

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