Duty-free exemption for DRDO supplies upheld where amended certificates cured original description errors.

Notification No. 10/97-CE allowed duty-free clearance of specified goods supplied to notified public funded research institutions, including DRDO. Where the original DRDO certificates contained descriptions or incorrect category references, amended certificates correcting those errors were accepted because they aligned the goods with the notified entries. For the remaining clearances, the goods were treated as the same nature of goods and not merely prototypes, so exemption could not be refused only because the original certificate described them under an incorrect category. The assessee was therefore entitled to the notification benefit, and denial of exemption was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to exemption under Notification No. 10/97-CE for goods supplied to DRDO despite discrepancies in the original certificates and the issuance of amended certificates.

Analysis: The notification granted duty-free clearance for specified goods supplied to notified public funded research institutions, and DRDO was one of the eligible agencies. The original certificates issued by DRDO contained errors regarding the description and category of the goods. The subsequent amended certificates corrected those discrepancies and brought the goods within the notified entries. For the remaining clearances, the goods were found to be of the same nature and not really prototypes, and the benefit could not be denied merely because the original certificate described them under an incorrect category.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 10/97-CE, and the denial of exemption was unsustainable.

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