Exemption proof may be shown by separate contemporaneous documents, and the Revenue must rebut a prima facie compliance claim.

An exemption notification for goods transport agency service did not require compliance to be proved only by a declaration printed on the consignment note; a separate contemporaneous declaration linked to the invoice could satisfy the condition. Once the assessee produced documentary evidence indicating fulfilment of the exemption requirements, the evidentiary burden shifted to the Revenue to rebut that claim with cogent material. In the absence of adverse evidence, a technical objection as to the form of proof could not defeat the exemption, and the claim was upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether the assessee had to establish compliance with the conditions of Notification No. 32/2004-S.T. by a particular mode of declaration on the consignment note; (ii) whether the burden lay on the Revenue to disprove the assessee's declaration once evidence of compliance was produced.

Issue (i): Whether the assessee had to establish compliance with the conditions of Notification No. 32/2004-S.T. by a particular mode of declaration on the consignment note.

Analysis: The notification grants partial exemption to a goods transport agency service provider if the stipulated conditions are satisfied. The form of proof is not confined to any particular stationery or to a declaration printed on the consignment note itself. A separate sheet containing the requisite declaration may also be accepted if it clearly refers to the invoice and forms part of the same transactional record. In the absence of any adverse material from the Revenue, the assessee's documentary compliance could not be rejected on a technical objection as to form.

Conclusion: Compliance was not required to be shown only on the consignment note, and a separate declaration could satisfy the notification conditions.

Issue (ii): Whether the burden lay on the Revenue to disprove the assessee's declaration once evidence of compliance was produced.

Analysis: Once the claimant produces evidence indicating fulfilment of the exemption conditions, the initial burden stands discharged. The evidentiary burden then shifts to the Revenue to rebut the claim by cogent material. In the present matter, no negative evidence was brought on record to dislodge the assessee's declaration or its supporting documents.

Conclusion: The burden shifted to the Revenue, and it failed to rebut the assessee's compliance.

Final Conclusion: The exemption claim was upheld, and the assessee obtained full relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification prescribes conditions but not a mandatory form of proof, compliance may be established by any reliable contemporaneous document, and once such evidence is produced the opposing authority must rebut it with cogent material.

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