Strict construction of exemption entry bars relief where imported goods were not shown to be for refinery set-up.

Imported UPS, measuring instruments and grinding wheels qualified for exemption under Notification No. 11/97, as amended, only if they fell within Serial No. 144A of List 8A and were required for setting up a crude petroleum refinery. The entry was construed strictly, and the refinery end-use requirement was treated as part of the description itself. Because the importers were traders, the goods were brought in for stock and trade, and no material showed intended use in refinery set-up, the threshold condition for exemption was not satisfied. The exemption therefore was not available.

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Issues: Whether imported UPS, measuring instruments and grinding wheels were entitled to exemption under Notification No. 11/97 as amended by Notification Nos. 37/97 and 55/97, against Serial No. 144A of List 8A, as goods required for setting up of a crude petroleum refinery.

Analysis: The exemption was held to be available only where the imported goods satisfied both the description in List 8A and the requirement that they were needed for setting up a crude petroleum refinery. Serial No. 144A contained no separate condition in the annexure, but the description itself was treated as incorporating the refinery-setting requirement. Since the appellants were traders and had imported the goods for stock and trade, and since no material was produced to show that the goods were intended for use in setting up a refinery, the threshold requirement for exemption was not met. The exemption notification was construed strictly, and the claimant was required to establish clear coverage within its terms.

Conclusion: The imported goods were not eligible for exemption, and the claim failed.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption entry must be strictly construed, and where eligibility depends on goods being required for a specified end use, the claimant must establish that the imported goods are intended for that use before the exemption can be granted.

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