TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (4) TMI 373
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....nder Chapter 72 of Central Excise Tariff Act. During the course of checking of record by the Revenue, it was observed that the appellants had availed the benefit of SSI exemption in terms of Notification No. 9/2000-C.E., dated 1-3-2000 and paid duty accordingly. It was also observed that the value of the goods cleared by the party during the preceding financial year i.e. 1999-2000 was more than permissible limit of Rs. 300 lacs. As per Notification No. 9/2000-C.E., dated 1-3-2000, the SSI exemption was available only to the units having clearances not exceeding Rs. 300 lacs in the preceding financial year. The Revenue issued show cause notice demanding Central Excise duty on goods cleared under SSI exemption. The adjudicating authority conf....
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....of the said Act. 4. Learned counsel submits that in order to avail the benefit of SSI exemption, only three types of values are to be taken into consideration :- (i) Value under Section 4 of the Central Excise Act; (ii) Value under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act; (iii) Tariff value as fixed under Section 3 of the Act. The learned counsel further argued that clearances covered under the Compounded Levy Scheme i.e. Section 3-A are not to be included while determining the aggregate value of the goods cleared from the factory under Notification No. 9/2000-C.E. Since Section 3-A does not find mention in Cla....
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....t March, 2000, on which duty of excise has been paid under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944." (f) Clearances of ingots and billets of non-alloy steel falling under sub-heading Nos. 7206.90 and 7207.90, lying in stock on 31st March, 2000, on which duty of excise has been paid under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944." The counsel submitted that the amendment has been affected which has neither been relied by the counsel for the appellant nor pleaded and according to which it has been amply made clear that only those clearances of hot re-rolled products of non-alloys steel lying in the stock on 31st March, 2000 on which duty of excise has been paid under Section 3A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 are to be excluded. ....
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....ed contentions of the respective counsel the following questions of law arise for consideration by this Court :- "(i) Whether in the facts and circumstances of the present case the value of goods cleared u/s 3-A can be treated for determination of aggregate value under Notification 9/2000-C.E., dated 1-3-2000 in terms of explanation No. C of the said notification, when the question of inclusion of value of clearances of those goods for denying the SSI exemption from 1-4-2000, does not arise? (ii) Whether in the facts and circumstances of the present case the appellant rightly availed the benefit of Small Scale Unit Exemption under Notification No. 9/2000-C.E., dated 1-3-2000?" 7. We have heard counsel for the parties at length. 8. Fr....
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....ppellant. 9. For arguments sake, if the contention of the appellant is accepted, a unit, clearing goods, running into crores, shall also be entitled to the benefit of notification if the clearances are made under Section 3-A of the Act. The intention of exemption notification is to provide benefit to Small Scale Units and not to every unit. Even the language of the notification is clear and there is nothing to suggest that clearances made under Section 3-A of the Act are not to be counted while calculating the aggregate value of the clearances. The clearances which are excluded stands specified, hence, in the absence of specific provision clearances made under Section 3-A of the Act cannot be excluded. In K.L. Concast v. CCE (supra), it ha....
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....ot Re-rolled products of non-alloy steel and ingots and billots of non-alloy steel on which duty of excise has been paid under Section 3A and which are lying in stock on 31-3-2000. These two sub-clauses make it very clear that the value of clearances of the goods on which duty of Excise has been paid under Section 3A of the Act is to be taken into account for determining the aggregate value of clearances of home consumption during the preceding financial year and the value of clearances of those goods which were lying in stock on 31-3-2000 is only to be excluded." 10. In the present case, the value of goods cleared under Section 3-A of the Act during 1999-2000, has to be taken into consideration for computing the aggregate value for clear....