Strict compliance with exemption conditions fails where temporary disconnection of machinery does not prove a plant has ceased to exist.

Strict compliance with an exemption notification was required where the benefit depended on the factory not having an attached plant for making bamboo pulp or wood pulp. Mere disconnection of accessories and switching off power did not establish that the pulp plant had ceased to exist as a functional attached unit, especially where the arrangement appeared temporary and reversible. The evidence was insufficient because the most relevant technical material was not produced. On that basis, the exemption condition was not proved and the claim to the notification benefit failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the factory satisfied the condition in Notification No. 138/86-C.E. that it did not have a plant attached thereto for making bamboo pulp or wood pulp, so as to qualify for the claimed exemption.

Analysis: The exemption depended on fulfilment of the stated condition in the notification. The paper mill had merely disconnected certain accessories and switched off power to the pulp mill; the authorities and the Tribunal treated this as a temporary arrangement capable of reversal, not as proof that the factory lacked a plant attached for making bamboo pulp or wood pulp. The Court found no error in the Tribunal's appreciation of the evidence. It also noted that the appellants did not produce the most relevant technical evidence to establish that the pulp plant had been rendered totally non-functional.

Conclusion: The condition for exemption was not proved to be satisfied, and the claim to the benefit of the notification failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A party claiming exemption under a notification must establish strict compliance with the qualifying condition, and temporary disconnection or non-use of machinery is insufficient unless it is shown by reliable evidence that the relevant plant has ceased to exist as an attached functional unit.

---