Alternative ingredients in exemption notification cannot be read cumulatively; benefit cannot be denied for absence of one ingredient.

The Explanation to Notification No. 70/76 was construed to treat screening and mechanical pulp as alternative, not cumulative, ingredients in mixed waste paper. On that reading, the exemption benefit could not be denied merely because the mill board manufactured did not contain mechanical pulp. The notification was therefore applied in favour of the assessee, and the stated ground for refusal failed.

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Issues: Whether the Explanation to Notification No. 70/76 dated 16-3-1976 required both screening and mechanical pulp to be present in mixed waste paper for denial of the notification benefit.

Analysis: The governing notification was construed according to its Explanation. On that construction, the presence of both screening and mechanical pulp in the mixed waste papers was treated as optional, not cumulative. The benefit of the notification could not therefore be refused merely because the mill board manufactured did not contain mechanical pulp.

Conclusion: The issue was answered in favour of the assessee, and the notification benefit could not be denied on the stated ground.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification, properly construed, makes alternative ingredients optional, its benefit cannot be denied for absence of one such ingredient.

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