Exemption for car carrier trailers mounted on duty-paid chassis upheld under the manufacturing notification entry.

Car carrier trailers fabricated and mounted on duty-paid chassis were treated as eligible for exemption under Notification No. 6/2002-CE, as amended, because the entry covered fabrication, mounting or fitting of structure or equipment on a chassis falling under heading 8706. The Tribunal noted that the trailer and prime mover formed an integrated vehicle and that the notification did not require inseparable attachment to the chassis or a bus-body type mounting. Revenue's precedents were distinguished on their facts, so denial of exemption was unsustainable and the assessee was entitled to the benefit.

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Issues: Whether the car carrier trailers fabricated by the assessee and coupled or mounted on duty-paid chassis were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 6/2002-CE as amended by Notification No. 6/2006-CE, and whether the resulting integrated vehicle was entitled to exemption as a motor vehicle under the relevant entry.

Analysis: The exemption entry covered goods manufactured in a factory and used within the same factory for building a body or for fabrication, mounting or fitting of structure or equipment on a chassis falling under heading 8706, provided the chassis was duty paid. The record showed that the trailer was integrated with the prime mover in a manner by which the chassis bore part of the weight and enabled transportation of cars. The condition in the notification did not require the body to be inseparably attached to the chassis or to be mounted only in the manner of a bus body. The Tribunal held that coupling and mounting of the car carrier trailer on the duty-paid chassis fell within the scope of the notification, and the authorities relied on by Revenue dealt with different facts and were not applicable.

Conclusion: The exemption was available and the denial thereof was unsustainable; the assessee succeeded.

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