Exemption notification for excess sugar production construed plainly; nil base-period output still qualified for rebate.

An exemption notification for sugar rebate applied to production in excess of the quantity made during the corresponding months of 1972. Because the factory had worked during the base period and had produced no sugar in those months, the proviso denying relief to a non-working factory did not apply. On a plain reading, the entire sugar produced in May-June 1973 was treated as excess production and qualified for rebate; a narrower construction would have added a restriction not found in the notification. The refund demand was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether sugar produced during May-June 1973 qualified for rebate under the exemption notification dated 28-9-1972 where the factory had produced no sugar during the corresponding months of 1972.

Analysis: The notification exempted sugar produced during the specified period to the extent it was in excess of the quantity produced during the corresponding period in 1972, and denied the benefit only to a factory that had not worked during the base period. The factory had produced sugar during the base period, so the disqualification in the proviso did not apply. On a proper reading, where production in the corresponding period of 1972 was nil, the entire production in May-June 1973 was in excess of the earlier production and therefore fell within the exemption. The contrary interpretation would add a restriction not found in the notification.

Conclusion: The rebate was admissible to the assessee and the demand for refund was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption notification granting relief on excess production must be construed according to its plain terms, and where the earlier corresponding period shows nil production, the later production is treated as excess if the factory worked during the base period.

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