Exemption for iron castings: mixed duty-paid pig iron inputs did not defeat the notification benefit.

Exemption under Notification No. 275/85 was available for iron castings made from specified goods on which excise duty or additional duty of customs had been paid. The Tribunal held that use of a mixed lot, including duty-paid pig iron and worn-out moulds treated as ferrous waste or scrap, did not by itself defeat the exemption claim. Relying on the assessee's own earlier case, the Supreme Court ruling in CCE, Patna v. Usha Martin Industries, and a prior Tribunal decision, it found no basis to depart from the settled view and rejected the Department's objection based on Notification No. 220/86.

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Issues: Whether iron castings made from a mixture of duty-paid pig iron and worn-out moulds that had become ferrous waste or scrap were entitled to exemption under Notification No. 275/85, notwithstanding the Department's reliance on Notification No. 220/86.

Analysis: The exemption under Notification No. 275/85 applied to iron castings made from specified goods on which excise duty or additional duty of customs had been paid. The Department treated the worn-out moulds as ferrous waste or scrap and contended that the condition for exemption was not satisfied. The Tribunal noted that the same issue had already been decided in the assessee's own case, following the Supreme Court decision in CCE, Patna v. Usha Martin Industries and an earlier Tribunal decision, and no reason was shown to depart from that view.

Conclusion: The castings were held entitled to the benefit of the notification and the Department's objection was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the applicable exemption notification is satisfied on the basis of the earlier binding decision on the same issue, use of a mixed lot including duty-paid pig iron does not defeat the exemption claim.

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