Trade brand requirement under Central Excise rules did not apply to unbranded reconstituted tobacco cleared from factory.

Reconstituted tobacco could be cleared from the factory without a trade brand where the product was not sold under a brand name. Rule 93 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 required indication and specimen approval of a trade brand, but the Board's circular clarified that this requirement applied only when the product was marketed with a brand name. On that basis, clearance of unbranded goods did not require branding particulars, and the contrary order was unsustainable in the facts considered.

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Issues: Whether reconstituted tobacco could be cleared from the factory without a trade brand under Rule 93 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944.

Analysis: Rule 93 required indication of the trade brand and approval of its specimen, but the Board's circular clarified that the brand name was to be indicated only where the product was sold with a brand name and that no such indication was necessary where the product had no brand name. The circular resolved the controversy in favour of permitting clearance without branding in such cases.

Conclusion: The requirement to affix a trade brand was not applicable to the appellants in the facts of the case, and the impugned order was unsustainable.

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