TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2018 (8) TMI 793
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....te of Controller General of Patent Design and Trade Marks it was gathered that brand name "Surya Gold" was registered in the name of Namit Wadhwa and brand name "Luxmi" was registered in the name of Geeta Gupta. As per the scheme of things under SSI exemption Notification 08/2003-CE dated 01/03/2003, the SSI exemption is not available to the specified goods mentioned in the exemption notification which bear a brand name or trade name whether registered or not of any other persons. 2. A show cause notice came to be issued on the basis of above allegations to the appellant demanding a duty of Rs. 23,45,703/-. The lower authorities have confirmed the duty demanded in the show cause notice and penalties under relevant sections have also been imposed on the appellant/assessee. The learned Advocate for the assessee has contended that they have been using the brand name Surya Gold and Luxmi for the last 15 years and they were not aware that these brands are registered in the name of some other persons. The learned Advocate has primarily argued that there is no suppression of the fact since they have always declared in their quarterly returns as to what brand of the goods namely LPG gas....
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....to do, hereby exempts clearances, specified in column (2) of the Table below (hereinafter referred to as the said Table) for home consumption of excisable goods of the description specified in the Annexure appended to this notification (hereinafter referred to as the specified goods), from so much of the aggregate of, - (i) the duty of excise specified thereon in the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) (hereinafter referred to as the First Schedule); and (ii) the special duty of excise specified thereon in the Second Schedule to the said Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the Second Schedule), as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (3) of the said Table : Provided that nothing contained in this notification shall apply to a manufacturer who has availed the exemption under notification No. 39/2001-Central Excise, dated the 31st July, 2001, published in the Gazette of India vide number G.S.R. 565 (E), dated the 31st July, 2001, in the same financial year. Table S. No Value of clearances Rate of duty (1) (2) (3) 1. First....
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....anufacturer clears the specified goods from one or more factories, the exemption in his case shall apply to the aggregate value of clearances mentioned against each of the serial numbers in the said Table and not separately for each factory; (vi) where the specified goods are cleared by one or more manufacturers from a factory, the exemption shall apply to the aggregate value of clearances mentioned against each of the serial numbers in the said Table and not separately for each manufacturer; (vii) the aggregate value of clearances of all excisable goods for home consumption by a manufacturer from one or more factories, or from a factory by one or more manufacturers, does not exceed rupees three hundred lakhs in the preceding financial year. 3. For the purposes of determining the aggregate value of clearances for home consumption, the following clearances shall not be taken into account, namely : - (a) clearances bearing the brand name or trade name of another person, which are ineligible for the grant of this exemption in terms of paragraph 4; (b) clearances of the specified goods which are used as inputs for further manufacture of any ....
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....sessee would not be entitled to the benefit of exemption notification. We may hasten to clarify that if the assessee is able to satisfy the Adjudicating Authority that there was no such intention, or that the user of the brand name was entirely fortuitous, it would be entitled to the benefit of the exemption. (ii) SSI exemption - object and intent of exemption notification to small scale industries is to grant benefits only to those industries who is not having advantage of brand or trade name (para 11). 11. It is manifest from a bare reading of clause Notification, read with Explanation IX that it clearly debars an assessee from the benefit of exemption under the notification, if he uses another person's brand or trade name with the intention of indicating a connection between the assessee's goods and such other person. It is evident that the object of the exemption notification is to grant benefits only to those industries which otherwise do not have the advantage of brand or trade name. (See : Commissioner of Central Excise, Chandigarh-II v. Bhalla Enterprises - (2005) 8 SCC 308 = 2004 (173) E.L.T. 225 (S.C.); Nirlex Spares (P) Ltd. (supra); Commissioner of Central E....