First clearances under exemption notification computed from the date of election to avail the benefit, not the financial year start.

For computing the value of first clearances under Notification No. 1/93, the relevant starting point was the date on which the manufacturer elected to avail the exemption, not the commencement of the financial year. The Tribunal relied on its earlier decisions and held that those precedents supported this approach, while the Revenue's reliance on the financial year basis did not displace the earlier view. The computation of first clearances was therefore affirmed from the date of election to avail the notification, and the appeals failed.

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Issues: Whether, for computing the value of first clearances under Paragraph 1 of Notification No. 1/93, the clearances were to be reckoned from the date on which the manufacturer elected to avail the notification or from the commencement of the financial year.

Analysis: The Tribunal examined its earlier decisions and found that the ratio applied in the earlier cases supported reckoning the first clearances from the date the manufacturer chose to avail the notification. It held that the department's contention based on the commencement of the financial year had not been the issue decided in the cited precedents and did not justify interference with the earlier view.

Conclusion: The issue was decided against the Revenue and in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appeals failed, and the Tribunal affirmed the computation of first clearances from the date of election to avail the notification.

Ratio Decidendi: For an exemption notification framed on the basis of first clearances, the relevant starting point is the date on which the manufacturer elects to avail the notification, where the governing precedent so holds.

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