Brand-name exclusion under small-scale exemption denied where goods cleared under another person's trade name.

Small-scale exemption under Notification No. 1/93-C.E. was unavailable where the cleared detergent powder and detergent cake bore the brand name of another person. The notification applied only to specified goods not bearing another person's brand or trade name, and the admitted use of M/s. Rakesh Chemical Industries' brand brought the goods within the exclusion. Earlier Tribunal rulings under a different notification regime were held inapplicable, and the Supreme Court's strict view on brand-name exclusion required compliance with the notification as written, without implying exceptions for captive use or job-work. The Revenue's position therefore prevailed and the exemption claim failed.

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Issues: Whether the respondent was entitled to small-scale exemption under Notification No. 1/93-C.E. when the goods cleared bore the brand name or trade name of another person.

Analysis: The exemption under Notification No. 1/93-C.E. was available only to specified goods which did not bear the brand name or trade name of another person. The admitted position was that the detergent powder and detergent cake were cleared under the brand name of M/s. Rakesh Chemical Industries. The earlier Tribunal decisions relied upon by the lower authority were based on a different notification regime and could not govern the present notification. The binding Supreme Court view on the scope of brand-name exclusion under the exemption notification required strict compliance with the notification terms and left no scope for reading in exceptions for captive use or job-work situations.

Conclusion: The respondent was not entitled to the small-scale exemption, and the Revenue's appeal succeeded.

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