Export clearances excluded from aggregate value computation under Notification No. 175/86 for home-consumption exemption

Clearances made for export were not includible in the aggregate value of clearances under Notification No. 175/86 because the exemption scheme was confined to excisable goods cleared for home consumption. Explanation II governed only the method of computation within that scheme and could not expand it to export clearances in the absence of express wording. The exemption was therefore available to the appellants, since export clearances were excluded from the aggregate value test.

---

---

Issues: Whether, for computing the aggregate value of clearances under Notification No. 175/86, clearances made for export were to be included or excluded.

Analysis: The Notification limited the exemption to excisable goods cleared for home consumption and its earlier paragraphs did not refer to export clearances. Explanation II only prescribed the method for computing the aggregate value of clearances under the Notification and had to be read in the context of the exemption scheme confined to home consumption. Clearances for export, though not duty-paid, were therefore not liable to be counted for determining the aggregate value under the Notification.

Conclusion: The export clearances were not includible in the aggregate value of clearances for the purpose of Notification No. 175/86, and the appellants were entitled to the exemption.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification is confined by its terms to clearances for home consumption, its aggregate-clearance computation cannot be extended to export clearances unless the notification expressly so provides.

---