Exemption for rubberized coir mattresses upheld where the relevant notification claim was specifically raised and fit the goods.

Entitlement to exemption under Notification No. 6/2000-C.E., Sr. No. 242 depended on whether the goods were rubberized coir mattresses falling within that entry. The assessee had specifically raised that claim in reply to the show cause notice, but the adjudicating authority did not examine it on merits. The record indicated that the goods were rubberized coir mattresses and that the same notification had been extended in a later classification list and another order. The departmental objection to considering the notification was rejected, and the exemption was held applicable.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 6/2000-C.E., Sr. No. 242 for rubberized coir mattresses, and whether such exemption could be considered even though the original claim was made in relation to another notification.

Analysis: The assessee had specifically stated in reply to the show cause notice that the goods manufactured by it were chargeable to nil rate of duty under Sr. No. 242 of Notification No. 6/2000-C.E. The Tribunal noted that the adjudicating authority had not discussed or decided the assessee's eligibility under that notification, even though the issue was brought to its notice. The Revenue did not show that the goods were anything other than rubberized coir mattresses, and the record also indicated that the benefit of the same notification had been extended in a subsequent classification list and in another order.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 6/2000-C.E., Sr. No. 242, and the departmental objection to considering that notification was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: When entitlement to an exemption notification is specifically brought to the authority's notice, the authority must examine that claim on merits if the goods fall within the relevant entry and the notification grants nil rate of duty.

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