Aggregate clearance value governs exemption benefit, not the sequence of duty-paid and concessional clearances.

Notification No. 175/86-C.E. allowed concessional or exempted clearances up to a prescribed value limit, and eligibility depended on the total aggregate value of specified goods cleared from the factory. The sequence in which duty-paid and concessional clearances were made was not the controlling factor, because the relevant clauses required the clearances to be viewed together against the ceiling. Prior Tribunal decisions had already held that the benefit could not be made conditional on the order of clearances, and that reasoning was applied here. The appellants were therefore entitled to the notification benefit up to the full aggregate limit, regardless of clearance sequence.

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Issues: Whether the benefit of Notification No. 175/86-C.E. dated 01.03.1986, allowing concessional or exempted clearances up to the prescribed monetary limit, depended on the sequence in which duty-paid and concessional clearances were made, or on the total aggregate value of clearances.

Analysis: The Notification fixed the eligibility limit by reference to the total value of specified goods cleared from the factory, and the relevant clauses required the clearances taken together to remain within the prescribed ceiling. The controlling consideration was the aggregate quantum of clearances, not whether the first clearances were at the tariff rate or at the concessional rate. The prior decisions of the Tribunal had already held that the benefit could not be made contingent upon the order of clearances, and that reasoning was held to apply equally to the present facts.

Conclusion: The appellants were entitled to the benefit of the Notification up to the full aggregate value limit, irrespective of the sequence of duty-paid and concessional clearances.

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