Concessional duty on fresh mushrooms upheld where domestic and exported goods were treated as similar under the notification.

Fresh mushrooms cleared for home consumption were treated as eligible for concessional duty where the notification used the term "similar" as the governing criterion. The goods cleared domestically and the exported mushrooms were found to fall within the same class of goods, and different chapter headings did not by themselves defeat similarity for notification purposes. On that basis, denial of the concessional rate was not justified, and the benefit of the notification was upheld.

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Issues: Whether fresh mushrooms cleared for home consumption were entitled to the concessional rate of duty under Notification No. 2/95-C.E. dated 04.01.1995 on the footing that they were similar to the processed mushrooms exported outside India.

Analysis: The Notification used the expression "similar" as the basis for the concessional benefit. The goods cleared for home consumption and the exported goods were found to belong to the same class of goods, and the mere fact that they were classifiable under different chapter headings did not negate their similarity for the purpose of the Notification.

Conclusion: The denial of the concessional rate of duty was not justified, and the benefit under the Notification was upheld.

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