Exemption notification can be claimed mid-year when it does not require availment from the financial year's first day.

An exemption notification that does not expressly require availment from the first day of the financial year may be claimed later in the same year if the assessee otherwise satisfies the notification conditions. The text notes that the small scale exemption was amended before the relevant financial year began, and the benefit was claimed after the amended position was known. Relying on the wording of the proviso and earlier precedent, the Tribunal treated mid-year availment as permissible and upheld the exemption claim from 19.05.1995. The impugned order was set aside and the claim accepted on merits.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was required to avail the exemption under Notification No. 1/93 only from the first day of the financial year, or whether the exemption could validly be claimed from a later date during the same financial year.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the construction of the exemption notification, particularly its proviso, in the setting of an amended small scale exemption. The operative language did not require the benefit to be taken from the opening day of the financial year. The notification had been amended before the relevant financial year commenced, and the assessee claimed the benefit only after becoming aware of the amended position. The Tribunal also relied on earlier precedent holding that a similar exemption could be availed from the middle of the financial year and not necessarily from its beginning.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to claim the exemption from 19.05.1995, and the claim was held valid and sustainable.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the appeal succeeded, with the exemption claim accepted on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption notification that does not expressly require availment from the first day of the financial year can be validly invoked during the year, including from a later date, if the assessee satisfies the notification conditions.

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