Exemption for inputs under Notification No. 202/88-C.E. upheld where old railway materials matched the notified description.

Notification No. 202/88-C.E. was applied to final products manufactured from old and used railway materials, with the central question being whether those materials could be treated as the notified inputs, namely angles, shapes and sections of iron of non-alloy steel. The Court noted that similar unspecified angles, shapes and sections had been accepted under the earlier tariff regime, and that the Board had accepted extension of the same benefit under the new regime. On that basis, the inputs were held to fall within the notification, and the exemption was available; the contrary demand was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the appellants were entitled to exemption under Notification No. 202/88-C.E. in respect of final products manufactured from old and used railway materials said to answer the description of inputs in column (2) of the notification.

Analysis: The notification granted exemption to specified goods when the final products were made from inputs of the description mentioned in the corresponding column, and the inputs had suffered duty. The controversy was whether old and used railway materials used by the appellants could be treated as angles, shapes and sections of iron of non-alloy steel falling within the notified description. The Court noted that for the earlier tariff regime, unspecified angles, shapes and sections had been accepted as inputs for a similar exemption, and that the recommendation to extend the same benefit under the new tariff regime had been accepted by the Board. On that basis, the appellants' inputs were treated as covered by the notification.

Conclusion: The appellants were entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 202/88-C.E., and the demand disallowing the exemption was unsustainable.

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