Small scale industry exemption: another manufacturer's brand name does not bar relief if the brand owner was eligible during the period.

Use of another manufacturer's brand name does not by itself bar small scale industry exemption under Notification No. 175/86-CE; the decisive question is whether the brand name owner was itself eligible for the exemption during the relevant period. A distinction based only on visual presentation or partial use of the brand name is insufficient to preserve the claim where the brand name otherwise belongs to another. Here, the brand name owner was a registered small scale unit, and exempt clearances were not to be included in aggregate value for eligibility purposes. On that statutory scheme, the owner was not ineligible, so the respondent could not be denied the exemption merely for using that brand name.

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Issues: Whether the respondent was disentitled to small scale industry exemption under Notification No. 175/86-CE for using the brand name of another manufacturer, and whether the brand name owner's position made the exemption unavailable.

Analysis: The decisive question was not whether the respondent used another person's brand name, but whether the brand name owner was eligible for the same exemption during the relevant period. The view that a difference in the visual presentation of the brand name could save the claim was rejected, since even a similar or part-use of another's brand name can attract the bar. However, the brand name owner was a registered small scale unit, and the goods were treated as bearing nil rate of duty during the period in dispute. On the statutory scheme of the exemption, exempt clearances were not to be counted in the aggregate value for determining eligibility. On that basis, the brand name owner could not be treated as ineligible for the exemption, and the respondent could not be denied the benefit merely for using that brand name.

Conclusion: The respondent was entitled to the small scale industry exemption, and the revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Use of another manufacturer's brand name does not by itself deny small scale industry exemption unless the brand name owner was ineligible for the exemption during the relevant period.

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