Exemption cannot be denied on a contradictory factual basis when the same standard was accepted for importability.

A concessional customs exemption for crude palm oil under Notification No. 21/2002-Cus was available only if the goods were of edible grade. The text notes that the same consignments were tested against the same food-standard benchmark for importability and exemption, but the Revenue accepted the Port Health Officer's report for one purpose and then relied on a conflicting Customs Laboratory report to deny the benefit. On that footing, the contradictory stand was unsustainable because the Revenue could not accept the standard for one part of the assessment and repudiate it for the same consignments when considering exemption. The importer was therefore entitled to the exemption benefit.

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Issues: Whether the importer was entitled to concessional duty under Notification No. 21/2002-Cus for crude palm oil claimed as edible grade, where the Port Health Officer's report and the Customs Laboratory report on the same consignments were conflicting.

Analysis: The exemption notification applied only to palm oil of edible grade. The goods were examined under the Prevention of Food Adulteration standards, and the same standard was used by the assessing authority both for determining importability and for deciding eligibility under the exemption. The Revenue accepted the Port Health Officer's report for importability, but sought to rely on the Customs Laboratory report to deny the exemption on the very same standard. In a case of conflicting reports, strict interpretation of the exemption notification would ordinarily place the burden on the assessee, but the decisive factor here was that the Revenue had already accepted the consignments as meeting the edible-grade standard for one part of the assessment and could not take the opposite position for the exemption claim on the same material and same standard.

Conclusion: The importer was entitled to the exemption benefit; the conflicting stand taken by the Revenue was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the same statutory or technical standard is accepted by the Revenue for one component of assessment, it cannot be repudiated for denying exemption on the same consignments, and an exemption claim cannot be rejected on a contradictory factual basis.

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