Own-account manufacture and sale is essential under the exemption scheme; job work alone amounts to discontinuance of business.

Under the Haryana General Sales Tax exemption scheme, an industrial unit must continue its own manufacturing and sale activity to retain the eligibility certificate. The court analysed Rule 28A as a scheme directed to units earning tax liability from sales of goods manufactured on their own account, and held that the expression "its business" refers to the unit's own business, not mere job work for another person. When the unit stopped manufacturing and selling goods for itself and carried on only job work, it was treated as having discontinued the business for which exemption had been granted, so withdrawal of the eligibility certificate was justified.

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Issues: Whether manufacture of goods only by way of job work for a third party, without sale of the manufactured goods on the unit's own account, amounts to discontinuance of business so as to justify withdrawal of the eligibility certificate under the exemption scheme.

Analysis: The exemption under the Haryana General Sales Tax Act and Rule 28A was intended for an eligible industrial unit carrying on its own manufacturing and sales activity so that tax liability arises on the sale of goods manufactured by it. The scheme, read as a whole, including the provision for withdrawal on discontinuance of business and the post-exemption conditions requiring continued production and restraint on transfer or consignment sales, shows that the expression "its business" refers to the unit's own business, not mere labour or manufacturing services rendered for another person. Once the petitioner stopped manufacturing and selling goods on its own account and instead carried on only job work for a third party, it ceased to conduct the business for which exemption had been granted. The broader definition of "business" could not override the specific exemption scheme.

Conclusion: Carrying on only job work in place of own-account manufacture and sale amounts to discontinuance of business for the purpose of Rule 28A, and withdrawal of the eligibility certificate was justified.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed because the petitioner no longer satisfied the statutory conditions for retaining the sales tax exemption benefit, and the impugned withdrawal of the eligibility certificate was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: For an industrial exemption scheme tied to sales of goods manufactured by the unit, cessation of own-account manufacture and sale, coupled with engagement only in job work for another party, constitutes discontinuance of business for withdrawal of the benefit.

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