Excise duty exemption for own brand goods upheld; demand notices based on denial of exemption could not stand.

Exemption from excise duty was held available where goods were cleared under the petitioners' own brand name, because the point had already been finally settled in their favour by binding precedent. The court treated the earlier Supreme Court and Tribunal decisions as conclusive on the brand-name issue within the petitioners' marketing area, and on that basis the show cause notices demanding basic excise duty could not be sustained. The writ petitions succeeded and the notices were quashed.

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Issues: Whether the petitioners were entitled to exemption from payment of excise duty on goods cleared under their own brand name, and whether the show cause notices demanding basic excise duty were sustainable.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the applicability of the exemption notifications to goods bearing the petitioners' brand name. The issue had already been finally decided in the petitioners' own case by the Supreme Court and by the Tribunal following that decision. Those decisions treated the brand as the petitioners' own brand within their marketing area and held the exemption to be available. In view of that settled position, the demand notices founded on denial of exemption could not stand.

Conclusion: The petitioners were entitled to the exemption, and the show cause notices were liable to be quashed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petitions succeeded on the basis of binding precedent recognising the petitioners' eligibility for exemption on goods cleared under their own brand name.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the assessee is held to be using its own brand name and the exemption issue is already settled by binding precedent, duty demands premised on denial of that exemption cannot be sustained.

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