Exemption notification conditions must be express; end use certificate cannot be implied to deny bulk drug concession.

Notification No. 31/88-C.E., issued under Rule 8(1) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, granted exemption to specified goods under Chapters 28, 29 and 30, and did not expressly require an end use certificate for bulk drugs. Because the demand rested only on non-production of such a certificate, and there was no allegation that the products were not bulk drugs under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1987, the concessional duty could not be denied on that basis. A condition not expressly incorporated in an exemption notification cannot be implied to defeat the notified concession.

---

---

Issues: Whether Notification No. 31/88-C.E. required production of an end use certificate for availing concessional rate of duty on the products cleared as bulk drugs.

Analysis: The notification, issued under Rule 8(1) of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, granted exemption to specified goods falling under Chapter 28, 29 or 30 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. The notification itself did not stipulate any condition requiring production of an end use certificate, unlike earlier bulk drug notifications. The demand was founded only on non-production of such a certificate, and there was no separate allegation that the products were not bulk drugs within the meaning of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1987.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to the exemption without furnishing an end use certificate, and the denial of concessional duty was not sustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A condition not expressly incorporated in an exemption notification cannot be read into it to deny the notified concession.

---