Cement captive clearances and retail sale price rules brought packaged goods within exemption under Notification No. 4/2007-CE.

Cement cleared in packaged form for captive consumption was treated as eligible for the exemption/concessional duty under Notification No. 4/2007-CE because the clearances were marked not for retail sale or resale, so a retail sale price was not required to be declared under the Packaged Commodities Rules. The third proviso to the notification applied where retail sale price was not required and was not declared, requiring duty to be determined as for goods cleared in other than packaged form. On that construction, Entry 1C covered the clearances, and the demand was unsustainable, consistent with the Board circular and prior Tribunal rulings.

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Issues: Whether cement cleared in packaged form for captive consumption, with no retail sale price required to be declared, was eligible for exemption/concessional duty under Notification No. 4/2007-CE dated 01.03.2007.

Analysis: The goods were cement falling under the relevant tariff heading and were not from a mini cement plant, so the dispute turned on whether the clearances could be treated as goods cleared in packaged form so as to fall outside Entry 1C. The third proviso to the notification provided that where retail sale price was not required to be declared under the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977, and was not declared, duty would be determined as in the case of goods cleared in other than packaged form. The clearances were for captive consumption and were marked not for retail sale or resale, so retail sale price was not required to be declared. The Board circular and prior Tribunal decisions supported the same interpretation.

Conclusion: The clearances were covered by the benefit of Entry 1C of Notification No. 4/2007-CE dated 01.03.2007 and the demand was unsustainable.

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