Strict compliance with exemption notification conditions bars relief where the mandatory pre-clearance certificate was not produced.

Exemption notifications must be strictly complied with, and the prescribed pre-clearance certificate condition under Notification No. 108/95-CE was mandatory. The appellant failed to produce the certificate before the jurisdictional excise authority prior to clearance, and the certificate available was issued in the name of another entity. As the conditions of the notification were not fulfilled and could not be treated as satisfied on the record, the exemption was denied and that denial was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 108/95-CE dated 28.08.1995 despite not producing the prescribed certificate before clearance and despite the certificate being issued in the name of another entity.

Analysis: The notification granted exemption only for specified supplies and required the manufacturer to produce the requisite certificate before the Assistant Commissioner prior to clearance. The record showed that no certificate was produced before the jurisdictional Central Excise authorities for the relevant clearances, and the certificate available was issued in the name of M/s. ANS Construction Ltd., not in the name of the appellant. The appellant did not establish that the certificate could validly be treated as its own or that the conditions of the notification were otherwise satisfied. Exemption notifications must be strictly construed and their language strictly followed.

Conclusion: The appellant was not entitled to the exemption, and the denial of benefit was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption notification must be strictly complied with, and where a mandatory pre-clearance certificate condition is not fulfilled, the exemption cannot be availed.

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