Small-scale exemption cannot be denied for non-registration when the notification imposes no such condition.

Small-scale exemption under Notification No. 8/2000 was not conditional on registration with the Central Excise Department. The notification did not stipulate registration as a requirement, and the Department's own policy also did not insist on registration of small and tiny units. Since the units' eligibility based on value of clearances was not disputed, denial of exemption solely for lack of registration was legally untenable. The stated principle is that an exemption cannot be refused on the ground of non-registration where registration is not prescribed as a condition in the notification.

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Issues: Whether exemption under Notification No. 8/2000 dated 01.03.2000 was dependent on registration of the units with the Central Excise Department.

Analysis: The adjudication findings on the eligibility of the units for exemption based on the value of clearances were not challenged. The notification did not prescribe registration with the Central Excise Department as a condition for availing the small-scale exemption. The Department's own policy was also noted as not insisting on registration of small and tiny units. The earlier departmental appeal had therefore proceeded on an incorrect legal premise.

Conclusion: The requirement of registration was not a condition for availing the exemption, and the issue was in favour of the appellants.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification does not make registration a stipulated condition, denial of the exemption merely because the unit is unregistered is unsustainable.

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