SSI exemption under the correct notification required fresh adjudication after the earlier exemption framework was wrongly applied.

SSI exemption eligibility had to be examined under Notification No. 8/99-CE dated 29.2.1999, and the prior order was unsustainable because it proceeded under earlier exemption notifications instead of the applicable regime. As the authority below did not test the claim against the correct legal framework, the denial of exemption could not stand on that reasoning. The matter was therefore remanded for fresh adjudication under the correct notification, with consideration of relevant judicial pronouncements and after giving the assessee an opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether denial of SSI exemption was sustainable when the adjudicating authority examined the dispute under earlier exemption notifications instead of Notification No. 8/99-CE dated 29.2.1999, and whether the order required remand for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the correct application of the exemption regime governing SSI benefit. The impugned order proceeded on the basis of earlier notifications and did not examine the claim with reference to the applicable Notification No. 8/99-CE dated 29.2.1999. Since the authority below had not tested the eligibility issue under the correct legal framework, the finding denying exemption could not be sustained on that reasoning. The proper course was to have the matter re-examined with reference to the applicable notification and relevant judicial pronouncements after granting opportunity of hearing.

Conclusion: The denial of SSI exemption was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication under Notification No. 8/99-CE dated 29.2.1999.

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