Letter of undertaking exemption depends on receipt by the jurisdictional officer, not the date of posting.

For exemption under Notification No. 41/99-C.E., the condition of furnishing a letter of undertaking is satisfied only when the undertaking reaches the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner. Mere posting of the letter does not make the undertaking effective from the date of dispatch, because the benefit of the notification cannot operate before receipt by the proper authority. The relevant date for claiming exemption is therefore the date of receipt of the letter of undertaking, and exemption is unavailable for any prior period.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of Notification No. 41/99-C.E. dated 26-11-1999, the date of posting of the letter of undertaking could be treated as the date of undertaking for claiming exemption, or whether the date of receipt by the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner alone was relevant.

Analysis: The Notification granted exemption on fulfillment of the condition of furnishing a letter of undertaking. The question was whether posting of the letter was enough to satisfy that condition from the date of posting, even though the document was actually received later by the Assistant Commissioner. The settled position relied upon in the appeals was that the relevant date was the date on which the undertaking reached the proper authority, because the benefit of the Notification could not operate before the undertaking was received and took effect before the jurisdictional officer.

Conclusion: The date of receipt of the letter of undertaking by the Assistant Commissioner was the date of undertaking for purposes of the Notification, and the exemption was not available for the period prior to that date.

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