Rule 96ZV benefit for damaged cement upheld where reprocessing by grinding and mixing was found feasible.

Damaged cement received for reprocessing by grinding and mixing with good cement was found eligible for benefit under Rule 96ZV. The damaged quantity was not proved to have irreversibly set merely because of its setting properties, and a Chemical Examiner's report from another case could not govern the present facts. The feasibility of reprocessing, together with clearance of an equivalent quantity of duty-paid cement after receipt of the original consignment, supported the claim that the damaged cement had been received for reprocessing. Accordingly, the duty demand and penalty were held unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to the benefit of Rule 96ZV in respect of cement received as damaged cement, reprocessed by grinding and mixed with good cement, and whether the duty demand and penalty could be sustained.

Analysis: The damaged cement received in the factory was not shown to have already become irreversibly set merely because the Chemical Examiner referred to setting properties. The report relied upon by the department in another case pertained to a different assessee and could not control the present facts. The claimed method of reprocessing by grinding and mixing with good cement was held to be feasible, and the clearance of an equivalent quantity of cement after duty-paid receipt of the original consignment supported the appellant's claim that the damaged quantity had been received for reprocessing.

Conclusion: The appellant was held eligible for the benefit under Rule 96ZV, and the demand and penalty were not sustainable.

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