2026-VIL-1703-CESTAT-KOL-CE
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CENTRAL EXCISE CESTAT Cases

Central Excise – Exemption to Bhujia under Serial No. 37 of Notification No. 12/2012-C.E. – Appellant manufactured Bhujia classifiable under Tariff Item 2106 9099 and cleared it in sealed retail packages. The Revenue denied the nil rate of duty under Serial No. 37 and contended that the goods are covered only by Serial No. 38, which applies to food preparations not cleared in sealed containers. Demand of duty with interest and penalties under Section 11AC was confirmed – Whether Bhujia cleared in sealed retail pouches is entitled to the nil rate of duty under Serial No. 37 of Notification No. 12/2012-C.E. dated 17.03.2012 - HELD - Bhujia finds specific and express mention in Serial No. 37, which covers sweetmeats, namkeen, Bhujia, mixture, chabena or similar edible preparations in ready-to-consume form. The entry does not incorporate any condition that the goods must not be cleared in sealed containers. In the presence of a more specific entry, there is no merit in the claim of the Revenue that the goods would be covered only by Serial No. 38. The issue has already been considered by the Tribunal in the Appellant's own case on the same exemption entry and the same commodity, and the issue is no more res integra. The demand was raised by importing into Serial No. 37 a restriction which is not there - The demand along with interest and penalties is set aside and the appeals are allowed - Central Excise – Exemption to Cheese Balls under Serial No. 29 of Notification No. 03/2006-C.E. – Appellant manufactured Cheese Balls classifiable under Tariff Item 2106 9099 and cleared them in sealed retail pouches. The Revenue treated the goods as ready-to-eat packaged food under Serial No. 30 and denied the nil rate of duty under Serial No. 29 – Whether Cheese Balls cleared in sealed retail pouches are covered by the specific nil-rate entry in Serial No. 29 or by Serial No. 30 for the period governed by Notification No. 03/2006-C.E. dated 01.03.2006 - HELD - The question cannot be determined merely by noticing that the goods are ready-to-eat and packaged. Serial No. 29 itself employs the expression similar edible preparations in ready for consumption form, which condition is satisfied by the goods. The fact that such preparations are subsequently placed in retail packaging cannot obliterate the specific description under which the goods otherwise fall. The distinction sought to be drawn by the Revenue would render the latter part of Serial No. 29 otiose wherever the goods are commercially packaged for sale. In Parle Products, the Tribunal held a similar product to be namkeen in common parlance and, in the alternative, covered by the wider expression similar edible preparations in ready-for-consumption form. As per the Board Circular, Serial No. 30 operates as the residual entry for ready-to-eat packaged food which does not answer the specific description in Serial No. 29. It does not displace Serial No. 29 merely because the goods are packaged. Having regard to the nature of the product, its composition and manufacturing process and its ready-to-consume character, the goods are covered by Serial No. 29 - The Cheese Balls are entitled to the nil rate of duty under Serial No. 29, the demand with interest and penalties is set aside and the appeals are allowed - Central Excise – Exemption to Cheese Balls under Serial No. 37 of Notification No. 12/2012-C.E. – Appellant cleared Cheese Balls in sealed retail pouches during the period governed by Notification No. 12/2012-C.E. The Revenue denied the exemption under Serial No. 37 and also held that the goods do not satisfy Serial No. 38 as they were cleared in sealed containers – Whether Cheese Balls cleared in sealed retail pouches are entitled to the nil rate of duty under Serial No. 37 independent of Serial No. 38 - HELD - Serial No. 37 reproduces, in substance, the same description which appeared under Serial No. 29 of the erstwhile notification. Where the same description is carried forward into the successor notification, the exemption cannot be construed as having undergone a substantive restriction in the absence of language expressly manifesting such an intention. A restriction which the notification does not contain cannot be imported into it by interpretation. The requirement that the goods should not be cleared in sealed containers occurs in the distinct and separately worded Serial No. 38. Such a condition cannot be read into Serial No. 37. The Appellant's entitlement under Serial No. 37 is independent of the availability of Serial No. 38. Serial No. 38 is not a gateway through which the Appellant is required to pass before claiming Serial No. 37. If the goods satisfy the description of Serial No. 37, the fact that they may not satisfy the separate conditions of Serial No. 38 does not disentitle them from the specific exemption. The Revenue's reasoning proceeds on an erroneous conflation of two distinct exemption entries - The Cheese Balls are entitled to the nil rate of duty under Serial No. 37, the demand with interest and penalties cannot be sustained and the appeals are allowed - Central Excise – Scope of Tariff Sub-heading 2106 90 in exemption entries vis-à-vis Tariff Item 2106 9099 – The Revenue contended that the specific exemption entries referring to Tariff Sub-heading 2106 90 do not extend to goods classified under Tariff Item 2106 9099 – Whether goods classifiable under Tariff Item 2106 9099 are outside the scope of the expression 2106 90 occurring in Serial No. 29 of Notification No. 03/2006-C.E. and Serial No. 37 of Notification No. 12/2012-C.E. - HELD - The departmental interpretation does not appreciate the hierarchical structure of the Central Excise Tariff. Heading 2106 covers food preparations not elsewhere specified or included. Sub-heading 2106 90 covers the other goods falling within that heading. Tariff Item 2106 9099 is an eight-digit tariff item situated within and forming part of the said sub-heading. The two expressions are not mutually exclusive classifications. Supplementary Note 6 to Chapter 21 provides that Tariff Item 2106 9099 includes products commonly known as namkeen, mixture, Bhujia and chabena, or called by any other name. The Revenue's construction would require reading into the entries a restriction which is not expressed therein. Had the legislative intention been to confine the benefit to a particular tariff item, the notification could have employed the specific eight-digit description. Having used the broader expression 2106 90, the exemption cannot be curtailed by importing a limitation which the notification does not contain - Classification under Tariff Item 2106 9099 does not take the goods outside the scope of the exemption entries, provided the goods answer the substantive description stipulated therein. The impugned order is set aside and the appeals are allowed.
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