Compulsory markings on jute bags are not a brand name where they serve statutory identification and control purposes.

Printed particulars on jute bags, including the procurer agency's name and logo, did not constitute a brand name where the markings were compulsorily affixed under the Jute Control Order and requisition orders for identification, monitoring and control in the public distribution system. Because the markings were imposed by law and did not create a trade connection in the course of trade, the exemption under the excise notification remained available. On that basis, the demand for duty, interest and penalty could not be sustained, and the controlling precedent on identical facts was followed.

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Issues: Whether printed particulars on jute bags, including the name and logo of the procurer agency, constituted use of a brand name so as to deny exemption under the relevant excise notification.

Analysis: The bags were manufactured during the period when the exemption notification stood amended to exclude goods bearing brand name. The markings on the bags were not voluntary commercial branding but were required to be affixed under the Jute Control Order and requisition orders issued thereunder. Such markings served identification, monitoring and control by governmental agencies in the public distribution system and were made under compulsion of law. They did not indicate a trade connection between the goods and any person in the sense required for a brand name.

Conclusion: The printed particulars on the jute bags did not amount to a brand name, and the exemption under the notification remained available to the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The demand of duty, interest, and penalty could not be sustained, and the appeal was allowed by following the controlling precedent on identical facts.

Ratio Decidendi: Markings compulsorily affixed on goods under a statutory control order for identification and regulatory purposes do not constitute a brand name or a trade mark connection in the course of trade.

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