Small-scale exemption for made-to-order castings survived despite purchaser brand names where end use was further manufacture.

Castings made to the design and specifications of identified customers, bearing those customers' brand names and supplied for use in further manufacture, were treated as eligible for small-scale exemption under Notification No. 1/93-C.E. The controlling factor was the nature of the goods and their end use, not the mere embossing of a purchaser's brand name. On the record, the castings were made to order for specific buyers and were not shown to be goods bearing another person's brand name in a manner that would defeat the exemption. The Board's circular also supported this reading, and the departmental challenge to the factual findings was rejected.

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Issues: Whether castings manufactured to the design and specifications of particular customers, bearing the customers' brand names and supplied for their own use in further manufacture, were entitled to small-scale exemption under Notification No. 1/93-C.E. despite the presence of brand names.

Analysis: The exemption depended on the nature of the goods and their end use. The record showed that the castings were made to order for identified purchasers, according to their specifications, and were supplied for further manufacture of diesel engines and machinery. In such a situation, the mere embossing of the purchaser's brand name did not establish use of another person's brand name so as to deny the benefit of the exemption. The departmental challenge to the factual findings was not supported by the record, and the clarification contained in the Board's circular supported admissibility of the exemption.

Conclusion: The castings were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 1/93-C.E., and the department's appeals failed.

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