Exemption for ready mix concrete manufactured at site sustained; duty demand and connected penalties were set aside.

The exemption under serial No. 51 of Notification No. 4/97-CE was construed to cover ready mix concrete manufactured at site, because the entry referring to concrete mix in Chapter 38 did not justify a narrower exclusion. Applying the Larger Bench interpretation, the Tribunal accepted that ready mix concrete produced at site fell within the notification's scope. As the exemption applied, the duty demand could not stand, and the connected penalties on the manufacturer and its officers were also unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether ready mix concrete manufactured at site was eligible for exemption under serial No. 51 of Notification No. 4/97-CE, and whether the consequential duty and penalties were sustainable.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the scope of the exemption entry, which covered concrete mix under Chapter 38 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. The Tribunal followed the Larger Bench ruling that the expression in serial No. 51 should not be given a narrow meaning so as to exclude ready mix concrete manufactured at site. Since the Larger Bench had already held that ready mix concrete manufactured at site falls within the exemption, the same reasoning applied to the present appeals. Once the demand itself failed, the penalties imposed on the manufacturer and its officers also could not survive.

Conclusion: The exemption was held to be available to ready mix concrete manufactured at site, and the duty demand and penalties were set aside in favour of the assessees.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption entry covering concrete mix manufactured at site must be construed to include ready mix concrete manufactured at site where the language of the notification does not justify a narrower exclusion.

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