End-use certificate not required under exemption notification; trade notice cannot override binding judicial interpretation of concessional duty.

Notification No. 31/88-C.E. granted concessional excise duty on bulk drugs without prescribing production of an end-use certificate as a condition. Denial of the exemption solely for non-production of such a certificate was therefore unsustainable, especially where the goods were classified as bulk drugs and approved classification lists were on record. Judicial interpretation by the Tribunal and High Court prevailed over any contrary trade notice, which could not alter the settled meaning of the notification. The demand and appellate order were set aside, and the assessee obtained consequential relief.

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Issues: Whether Notification No. 31/88-C.E. required production of an end-use certificate for availing concessional duty on bulk drugs, and whether a trade notice could sustain denial of the exemption contrary to Tribunal and High Court rulings.

Analysis: The concessional rate arose under an excise exemption notification issued under Rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. The notification, unlike certain customs notifications, did not prescribe production of an end-use certificate as a condition for the concession. The demand was founded only on non-production of such certificate, while the classification lists had been approved and there was no allegation that the goods were not bulk drugs. Earlier Tribunal decisions had already held that Notification No. 31/88-C.E. did not impose an end-use certificate requirement. The Court also held that judicial rulings of the Tribunal and High Court prevail over contrary administrative trade notices, and that the trade notice could not override the settled legal position.

Conclusion: The end-use certificate was not a condition under the notification, and the denial of exemption on that basis was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The demand and the appellate order were set aside, and the appeal succeeded with consequential relief as permissible in law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an exemption notification does not prescribe production of an end-use certificate, the concession cannot be denied on that ground, and an administrative trade notice cannot override binding judicial interpretation of the notification.

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