Exemption notification cannot be denied when intimation was sent and the department failed to maintain inward records.

An exemption under Notification No. 50/2003-CE could not be denied merely for alleged absence of proof of written intimation where the assessee produced the intimation letter said to have been sent to the department. The department's inward dak/register for the relevant period was not maintained, so its own record-keeping failure could not be used to defeat the exemption claim. As no other lapse was found against the assessee, the procedural objection was insufficient and the disallowance of notification benefit was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of exemption Notification No. 50/2003-CE dated 10.06.2003 could be denied for want of proof of written intimation, where the assessee produced the letter said to have been sent to the department and the department's inward record for the relevant period was not maintained.

Analysis: The assessee produced the intimation dated 29.03.2005 addressed to the department for availing the exemption. The record also showed that the department did not maintain inward dak/register entries for the relevant period. In these circumstances, the procedural objection was not sufficient to deny the exemption when no other lapse was found against the assessee. The department could not rely on its own failure to maintain records to defeat the claim.

Conclusion: The exemption could not be denied and the finding disallowing the notification benefit was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessee establishes that intimation for availing an exemption was sent to the department, the exemption cannot be denied merely because the department failed to maintain the relevant inward records.

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