Exemption for packaged cement to industrial consumers upheld where retail price declaration was not required.

Cement cleared in packaged form to industrial or institutional consumers was held eligible for exemption under Sl. No. 1C of Notification No. 04/2006 because retail price declaration was not required. Rule 2A of the Packaged Commodities Rules was read disjunctively, so packages meant for industrial or institutional consumption fell outside the MRP declaration requirement. The goods carried declarations that they were not for resale and were meant for industrial or institutional use, and the Board circular supported this view. The exemption was therefore admissible and the demand was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether cement cleared in packaged form to industrial or institutional consumers, where retail price declaration was not required, was eligible for exemption under Sl. No. 1C of Notification No. 04/2006 dated 01.03.2006 by reading Rule 2A of the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 disjunctively.

Analysis: The exemption under Sl. No. 1C applied where the packaged commodities were not required to carry retail price declaration. Rule 2A carved out separate situations in which the MRP declaration chapter would not apply, including packages meant for sale to industrial consumers or institutional consumers. The packages in question were cleared to such consumers and carried the declaration that they were not for resale and were meant for industrial or institutional consumption. The issue had already been settled in the respondent's own case and the Board's circular also supported eligibility for exemption in such circumstances. The clauses in Rule 2A were to be read disjunctively and not conjunctively.

Conclusion: The exemption was admissible and the demand was unsustainable; the department's appeal was dismissed.

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