SSI exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. cannot be denied merely because a factory address was updated later in registration.

Para 4(b) of Notification No. 175/86-C.E. turns on the identity of the manufacturer and whether exemption was availed in the preceding financial year; a later change in factory address recorded in the SSI registration certificate is only procedural and does not by itself defeat the benefit. Where the manufacturer remained the same and the revised address was later incorporated without cancellation of the original registration, the certificate continued to operate from its original date. The exemption could not be denied merely because the shifted premises were not immediately reflected in the amended address, and the benefit remained available where otherwise admissible.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of para 4(b) of Notification No. 175/86-C.E. dated 1-3-1986 could be denied only because the factory premises were not registered in the amended address, and whether delayed incorporation of the new address in the SSI registration certificate disentitled the manufacturer from exemption.

Analysis: Para 4(b) emphasises the status of the manufacturer and the fact that he had availed exemption during the preceding financial year. The notification does not require that the same factory premises must continue unchanged or that the exemption must fail merely because the address change was recorded later in the registration certificate. Where the manufacturer remains the same, and the change of address is subsequently incorporated without cancellation of registration, the certificate remains effective from its original date. The amendment of address is therefore only a procedural matter and cannot whittle down the exemption. The interpretation adopted is consistent with the purpose of the exemption notification and the principle that such notifications should receive their due effect.

Conclusion: The condition in para 4(b) was satisfied and the exemption could not be denied on the ground of non-registration of the shifted premises in the amended address. The denial of benefit was unsustainable and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Final Conclusion: The appeals failed, and the exemption benefit under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. remained available to the assessees where otherwise admissible.

Ratio Decidendi: Under para 4(b) of Notification No. 175/86-C.E., the controlling consideration is whether the same manufacturer had availed the exemption in the preceding financial year; a later change in factory address reflected in the SSI registration certificate is only procedural and does not by itself defeat the exemption.

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