Belated re-warehousing certificate still preserved excise exemption for supplies to a 100% Export Oriented Unit

Rule 156B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 required a re-warehousing certificate within 90 days of removal, subject to extension by the Commissioner. The text explains that the rule also contemplated payment of duty followed by refund if the certificate was produced later. On that reading, delayed filing of the certificate did not defeat the exemption from excise duty on supplies to a 100% Export Oriented Unit, so long as the certificate was ultimately furnished. The operative point is that belated compliance could still satisfy the rule and could not, by itself, justify denial of the exemption.

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Issues: Whether the assessee remained entitled to exemption from excise duty on supply of goods to a 100% Export Oriented Unit when the re-warehousing certificate was furnished after the prescribed period under Rule 156B of the Central Excise Rules, 1944.

Analysis: The procedural requirement under Rule 156B was that the assessee furnish the re-warehousing certificate within 90 days of removal of the goods, subject to extension by the Commissioner. The rule also contemplated that where the certificate was produced after the stipulated period, duty could be paid and thereafter refunded on production of the certificate. Since the certificate was ultimately furnished, the Court held that the Tribunal correctly read the rule as treating the belated filing as sufficient compliance and not as a ground to deny the exemption altogether.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the exemption and no duty was payable merely because the certificate was filed after 90 days.

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