Exemption notification eligibility remanded for reconsideration after hearing, with duty liability and related conditions to be re-examined.

Eligibility for exemption under Notification No. 65/88 and Notification No. 118/86 was to be reconsidered by the Commissioner after giving the assessee an opportunity of hearing. The appeals did not decide the merits of the exemption claim or the interest demand; instead, they required examination of whether the notification conditions were satisfied and whether the duty liability needed reassessment. In the connected matters, the same remand course was followed, and any deposit condition was either noted or waived where duty had already been paid.

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Issues: (i) whether the matters should be remitted to the Commissioner for reconsideration of the assessee's eligibility for benefit under Notification No. 65/88 and Notification No. 118/86, with an opportunity of hearing.

Issue (i): whether the matters should be remitted to the Commissioner for reconsideration of the assessee's eligibility for benefit under Notification No. 65/88 and Notification No. 118/86, with an opportunity of hearing.

Analysis: The appeals turned on the request that the Commissioner examine the assessee's claim under the relevant notifications, including whether the conditions of the notifications were satisfied and whether the applicable duty liability required reconsideration. The matters were not decided on the admissibility of the benefit or on the merits of the interest demand. In the connected appeals, the same course was adopted, namely consideration by the Commissioner after hearing the assessee, and in some matters a deposit condition was noted or waived because the duty had already been deposited.

Conclusion: The matters were remitted to the Commissioner for reconsideration of the claim under the notifications after affording an opportunity of hearing, and the result was in part in favour of the assessee.

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