Exemption for input used in caustic soda lye manufacture upheld where identical Tribunal precedent governed the issue.

Barium Carbonate used in the manufacture of caustic soda lye was treated as eligible for exemption under Notification No. 201/79 because the identical issue had already been decided by the Tribunal, and no reason was found to depart from that earlier view. The assessee's entitlement to the exemption was therefore accepted on the basis of binding Tribunal reasoning on the same question, and the departmental appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether Barium Carbonate used in the manufacture of Caustic Soda Lye was eligible for exemption under Notification No. 201/79 dated 04.06.1979.

Analysis: The issue was covered by an earlier decision of the Tribunal on the same question. The parties accepted that the earlier decision governed the present matter, and no reason was found to depart from that view.

Conclusion: Barium Carbonate was held eligible for the exemption under Notification No. 201/79 dated 04.06.1979, and the appeal failed.

Final Conclusion: The departmental appeal was rejected on the footing that the assessee's claim to exemption was covered by binding Tribunal reasoning on the identical issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an identical issue concerning eligibility to exemption had already been decided by the Tribunal, the same view was followed and the input was treated as entitled to exemption under the notification.

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