Clubbing of clearances for SSI exemption rejected where appeals were not filed against all connected units.

Clubbing of clearances for denial of small scale industry exemption was held unsustainable in the present proceedings because the Revenue had appealed against only one of the connected manufacturing units. The Tribunal noted that the department sought to club the clearances of three units, but in the absence of appeals against the remaining units, their clearances could not be brought into the dispute before it. As a result, the clubbing contention was rejected in this appeal and the exemption issue was resolved in favour of the respondent unit.

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Issues: Whether the clearances of the connected manufacturing units could be clubbed with the respondent unit for denying the benefit of small scale industry exemption when the Revenue had not appealed against all the units whose clearances were sought to be clubbed.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that the Revenue sought clubbing of the clearances of three units, but the appeal before it was filed only against one unit. In the absence of appeals against the remaining units, their clearances could not be clubbed with the respondent unit in the present proceedings. The clubbing contention therefore could not be accepted in this appeal.

Conclusion: The issue was decided in favour of the respondent and against the Revenue.

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