End-use exemption for 100% EOU supplies cannot be denied by reopening classification already accepted for clearance.

An end-use based exemption for supplies to a 100% EOU was upheld where the supplying unit's jurisdictional officer had already classified the goods and issued the CT-3 certificate on that basis. The recipient unit's officer-in-charge could not reopen or re-determine that classification to deny Notification No. 1/95-C.E. benefit by treating the goods as office furniture rather than office equipment. The attempted reclassification and consequent denial of exemption were held unsustainable, and the duty demand and orders below were set aside, with consequential relief granted.

---

---

Issues: Whether the recipient unit's officer-in-charge could re-open and re-determine the classification of goods already assessed by the supplying unit's jurisdictional officer, so as to deny the benefit of Notification No. 1/95-C.E. dated 04.01.1995.

Analysis: The exemption under Notification No. 1/95-C.E. was treated as an end-use based exemption for goods supplied to a 100% EOU. The demand was founded on the premise that the mobile storage system was akin to office furniture and not office equipment. The Tribunal held that the classification of the goods had already been determined by the jurisdictional officer of the manufacturing unit when the CT-3 certificate was issued and clearance was made on that basis. It further held that the officer-in-charge of the recipient unit had no jurisdiction to sit in judgment over or reopen the classification approved by the officer-in-charge of the supplying unit.

Conclusion: The re-determination of classification and consequent denial of exemption were unsustainable, and the appeal succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The duty demand and the orders below were set aside, and the appellant obtained the benefit of the exemption along with consequential relief.

---