Exemption notification rates treated as fixed slab rates, not proportionately reduced within each price band.

Notification No. 201/85 was construed as applying the rates in column (2) as fixed slab rates for the adjusted sale price ranges in column (1), rather than as amounts to be proportionately reduced within each slab. The exemption operated by relieving duty in excess of the amount calculated at the specified slab rate per thousand cigarettes, and the wording was treated as clear and unambiguous. Where the adjusted sale price fell within a slab, the corresponding rate applied in full. Any awkward result from the wording did not justify departing from the plain language, particularly because the manufacturer could decline the exemption and pay tariff duty instead.

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Issues: Whether the rates in column (2) of Notification No. 201/85 were to be applied as uniform slab rates to the adjusted sale price ranges in column (1), or whether they had to be proportionately reduced within each slab.

Analysis: The Notification granted exemption from duty in excess of the amount calculated at the rates specified in column (2) of the table. The language used was clear and unambiguous. The rate specified for each slab was a single rate per thousand cigarettes and was not capable of being varied by taking the exact adjusted sale price within the slab as the base for proportional reduction. Where the adjusted sale price fell within a particular slab, the corresponding rate in column (2) applied in full. Any incongruous result from the wording of the Notification did not justify departing from its plain tenor, especially when the manufacturer could choose not to avail the exemption and instead pay tariff duty.

Conclusion: The rates in column (2) were held to be fixed slab rates and the assessee's claim for proportional reduction was rejected. The appeals were dismissed.

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