Alternative exemption notifications may be claimed later if available; non-claim at clearance does not by itself defeat the benefit.

Where multiple exemption notifications are otherwise available, an assessee may choose the more beneficial exemption even if it was not claimed at the time of procurement or import. The fact that the benefit was not invoked at the initial stage does not by itself bar the claim later, and an alternative exemption may be considered at the appellate stage if it is otherwise available. On that basis, denial of the exemption solely for non-claim at clearance was not sustainable, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the assessee could be granted the benefit of alternative exemption notifications though those notifications were not claimed at the time of procurement or import, and whether the demand based on denial of such benefit was sustainable.

Analysis: The goods in question could have been procured under the general exemption notifications, and the Revenue did not dispute the availability of those notifications. The settled principle applied was that where more than one exemption notification is available, the assessee is entitled to choose the more beneficial one. The fact that the benefit was not claimed at the initial stage did not bar the assessee from asserting it later, and a beneficial exemption cannot be denied merely because the original procurement was under a different notification. The reasoning also accepted that alternative exemption claims can be considered at the appellate stage when the exemption is otherwise available.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the benefit of the alternative exemption notifications, and the Revenue's challenge to the allowance of that benefit failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where multiple exemption notifications are otherwise available, an assessee may claim the more beneficial exemption even if it was not invoked at the initial stage, and such benefit cannot be denied solely on the ground of non-claim at the time of clearance or import.

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