Nil duty treated as duty already paid for exemption on plastic scrap under settled precedent.

A nil rate of duty can be treated as duty already paid where an exemption notification requires that condition for waste, parings and scrap of plastics under Chapter 39. The Tribunal accepted the earlier interpretation of "leviable" as encompassing duty under the Act read with exemption notifications, and relied on settled Supreme Court precedent followed in later Tribunal decisions. On that basis, it found no infirmity in allowing exemption under Notification No. 14/92-C.E., and confirmed that nil duty satisfied the duty-paid requirement.

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Issues: Whether nil rate of duty can be treated as duty already paid for the purpose of claiming exemption under Notification No. 14/92-C.E. in respect of waste, parings and scrap of plastics falling under Chapter 39 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that the earlier view treating the expression "leviable" as including duty prescribed under the Act read with exemption notifications had already been accepted, and that a nil rate of duty could satisfy the requirement of duty having been already paid. It further noted that the relevant issue had been settled by the Supreme Court and had been followed in later Tribunal decisions, leaving no infirmity in the order granting exemption.

Conclusion: Nil duty was to be treated as duty already paid, and the exemption under Notification No. 14/92-C.E. was available.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of an exemption conditioned on goods arising from duty paid inputs, a nil rate of duty can constitute duty already paid where the issue has been settled by binding precedent.

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