Exemption notification interpretation allows dry distemper benefit where binder content stays within the prescribed limit.

Exemption notifications must be construed as a whole, including any proviso limiting incidental ingredients. A dry distemper was treated as a mixture in the nature of pigments or dry colours for purposes of Notification No. 114/73 because distempers are essentially composed of colouring pigments or mineral substances with small quantities of binders. The presence of glue as a binding agent did not defeat the exemption where the chemical report showed it was below the four per cent by weight limit permitted by the proviso. A trade notice could not override the notification's text or narrow the scope of the exemption.

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Issues: Whether dry distemper is a mixture in the nature of pigments or dry colours so as to qualify for exemption under Notification No. 114/73, and whether the presence of glue as a binding agent below four per cent by weight disentitles the product from the exemption.

Analysis: The product was undisputedly a dry distemper. The notification exempted mixtures in the nature of pigments or dry colours falling under the specified chapters, and the wording was not confined to pigments or dry colours in a strict or technical sense. Distempers, as reflected in the explanatory material relied upon, are composed essentially of colouring pigments or mineral substances with small quantities of binders, and therefore fall within the nature of pigments or dry colours. The notification had to be read as a whole, including the proviso that permits binding agent up to four per cent by weight. Since the departmental chemical report showed glue below that limit, the mere fact that glue was not separately named in the schedule did not defeat the exemption. The trade notice could not override the notification or the proviso.

Conclusion: The dry distemper satisfied the conditions of the exemption notification, and the denial of benefit was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The assessee was held entitled to the exemption, and the department's cross-objection fell with the appeal.

Ratio Decidendi: For exemption notifications, the instrument must be construed as a whole, and a product falling within the nature of the specified goods is eligible where the governing proviso permits the relevant incidental ingredient within the prescribed limit.

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