JUDGMENT

K. S. Panicker Radhakrishnan, J.

1. The question that falls for consideration in these appeals is whether a manufacturer of a specified final product falling under the schedule of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (in short “the Tariff Act”) is eligible to get the benefit of exemption from remission of excise duty on specified intermediate goods as per Notification no. 121/94-CE dated 11.8.1994, if captively consumed for the manufacture of final products on the ground that the records kept by it at the recipient end would indicate its “intended use” and “substantial compliance” of the procedure set out in Chapter X of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 (in short ‘the Excise Rules”).

2. The above question was decided by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (in short ‘the Tribunal”) in favour of the respondents-assessees, relying upon the judgments of this Court in Thermax Private Ltd. v. Collector of Customs (Bombay) New Custom House,1 (1992) 4 SCC 440 and Collector of Central Excise, Jaipur v. J.K. Synthetics,2 (2000) 10 SCC 393 on the ground of “intended use” and the principle of “substantial compliance”. The matter came up before the three Judge Bench of