Loan licencee treated as manufacturer, while small scale exemption eligibility under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. was remanded for reconsideration.

A loan licencee was treated as a manufacturer in its own right for the purpose of Notification No. 175/86-C.E., with the Tribunal applying its earlier view that manufacturer status does not depend on ownership of the factory. Eligibility for small scale exemption under the same notification depended on the notification conditions, including aggregate value of clearances, and that question was not finally decided on merits. The exemption claim was therefore remanded for fresh consideration by the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Excise.

---

---

Issues: (i) whether a loan licencee is to be treated as a manufacturer in its own right for the purpose of exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. dated 1-3-1986; (ii) whether eligibility to small scale exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. required reconsideration on the facts of the case.

Issue (i): whether a loan licencee is to be treated as a manufacturer in its own right for the purpose of exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. dated 1-3-1986.

Analysis: The exemption claim had to be examined in the light of the Tribunal's earlier view that loan licencees are to be treated as manufacturers in their own right, irrespective of ownership of a factory. The question of manufacturer status was therefore not accepted against the appellant.

Conclusion: The loan licencee was treated as a manufacturer in its own right.

Issue (ii): whether eligibility to small scale exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. required reconsideration on the facts of the case.

Analysis: Eligibility to the exemption depended on the conditions in the notification, including the aggregate value of clearances. As the exemption issue had to be re-examined in the light of the Tribunal's earlier order, the matter was not finally decided on merits and was sent back for fresh consideration.

Conclusion: The exemption eligibility issue was remanded for reconsideration by the jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Excise.

Final Conclusion: The appellant succeeded only on the legal status of a loan licencee as a manufacturer, while the substantive exemption claim under the small scale notification was left for fresh adjudication.

---