Exemption notification entries with similar wording may be chosen by the assessee, if the selected entry's conditions are satisfied.

Where two exemption notification entries are similarly worded and both are otherwise available on the facts, the assessee may choose the serial entry under which exemption is claimed, provided the conditions attached to that entry are satisfied. The Tribunal followed its earlier ruling and accepted that the mere applicability of one serial number did not prevent recourse to the other, so long as the chosen entry's requirements were met. On that basis, the Revenue's challenge to the appellate finding rejecting its reference application was not accepted.

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Issues: Whether, where two serial entries in an exemption notification are similarly worded and both are available on the facts, the assessee can choose the entry under which exemption is claimed, and whether the Revenue's challenge to the appellate finding rejecting its reference application deserved acceptance.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that the relevant serial numbers in Notification No. 53/88-C.E. were similarly worded. It followed its earlier decision holding that, in such a situation, it is open to the assessee to avail the benefit under the entry chosen by it, subject to the conditions attached to that entry. The appellate authority's view that the mere applicability of one serial number did not bar recourse to the other was therefore consistent with the Tribunal's earlier ruling.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to claim the benefit under the chosen serial entry, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where exemption notification entries are similarly worded and both are otherwise available, the assessee may opt for the entry that it seeks to invoke, provided the governing conditions of that entry are satisfied.

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