Bengal Hammer Industries (P) Ltd. v. Commnr. of Central Excise, Kolkata
2008-10-21
B.SUDERSHAN REDDY, S.H.KAPADIA
body2008
DigiLaw.ai
ORDER : 1. This batch of Civil Appeals raise a question of law as to whether goods obtained in the process of dismantling of a ship such as angles, plates, rounds and heavy steel pipes etc. would constitute "manufacture" under Central Excise Act? It is the case of the appellants assessees herein that the goods obtained by the appellants on the dismantling of the ship cannot be made liable to excise duty particularly when the process does not involve any "manufacture" both, conceptually as well as in terms of the provisions of Central Excise Act. In this connection appellants placed reliance not upon the process undertaken but on tariff items 72.06 to 72.13 etc. 2. We have gone through the entire record. We find that the process undertaken by the appellants herein has nowhere been disclosed nor discussed before the authorities below. In such cases of technical nature, particularly when ship breaking involves expertise, the Adjudicating Authority was required to examine in detail the process by which the breaking of the ship takes place and also the emergence of angles, plates, rounds and heavy steel pipes etc. Since that has not been done, we set aside the impugned judgment and remit the matters to the Adjudicating Authority for fresh consideration in accordance with law. The appellants herein are given liberty to file additional documents including the data available with them with the Adjudication Authority. They will demonstrate before the Adjudicating Authority the exact process which they are undertaking during the ship breaking. 3. It is for this purpose the matters are being remitted so that Adjudicating Authority can decide the matters in accordance with law. Accordingly, the Civil Appeals are disposed of with no order as to costs.