Exemption continuity for unbranded chewing tobacco: reference to a replaced notification was read as covering the substituted exemption.

An exemption from additional excise duty for unbranded chewing tobacco was held to continue during the relevant period despite the supersession of the basic excise exemption notification. Notification No. 9/96 remained in force, and its reference to the earlier basic duty notification was treated as descriptive of the goods and their exempt status, not as a dependency that failed on repeal. Applying the principle governing repealed and re-enacted provisions, the reference was construed as extending to the substituted notification because the substance of the exemption remained unchanged. A construction defeating the exemption was rejected, and the duty demand was therefore not sustainable.

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Issues: Whether the exemption from additional excise duty on unbranded chewing tobacco continued during the relevant period after the notification granting basic excise exemption was superseded and replaced.

Analysis: The exemption from additional excise duty was granted under Notification No. 9/96, which remained in force during the relevant period and did not delete the entry for unbranded chewing tobacco. The reference in that entry to the basic duty exemption notification was treated as descriptive of the goods and their existing exemption from basic excise duty. When the earlier basic duty notification was superseded, the substituted notification continued the same exemption, so the condition underlying the additional duty exemption remained satisfied. The principle governing references to repealed and re-enacted provisions was applied, so the continued reference in Notification No. 9/96 was construed as a reference to the substituted notification. A construction that made the exemption ineffective was rejected.

Conclusion: The exemption from additional excise duty remained available for the relevant period and the demand could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification refers to another notification only as a descriptive or incorporated reference, and the latter is repealed and replaced without changing the substance of the exemption, the reference is construed as referring to the substituted notification unless a contrary intention is shown.

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