9911796707
TMI Blog1989 (5) TMI 206X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cleared by them during the period April, 1983 to September, 1983. The appellants herein are engaged in the manufacture of various Bituminous products. They filed an application with the jurisdictional Assistant Collector on 1-4-1983 seeking exemption under Notification 77/83, dated 1-3-1983 for the financial year 1983-84. The department, however, found on scrutiny that the aggregate value of clearances of all excisable goods falling under Tariff Item 68 and Tariff Item 11 by the are appellants had exceeded Rs. 40 lakhs during the preceding financial year 1982-83 and hence they were not eligible for the exemption. This is because para 2 of the Notification 77/83 lays down that nothing contained in the notification shall apply if the aggrega ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ascertaining a general term used for describing a fiscal legislation, the general term so used covers that commodity or item or article in all its forms and varieties. According to the learned Counsel the term Bitumen is a general term which will include within its ambit all varieties of Bitumens including Blown Bitumen. He further pointed out that Straight grade Bitumen and Blown Bitumen are one and the same in their characteristics. The only difference is in their softening point. He further contended that earlier the Appellate Collector of Central Excise, Calcutta had held that the product is not dutiable and, therefore, the Assistant Collector cannot take a different view. The department had also informed them that the conversion of Str ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ered the submissions made by the learned Counsel and the learned D.R. The issue is whether the production of Blown Bitumen from Straight grade Bitumen could amount to manufacture and whether the Blown Bitumen could be an excisable goods classifiable under the tariff. We find that in the paperbook there is an extract from the publication A Layman s Introduction to Oil Refining edited by D.G. Crook, published by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. on Bitumen. From this extract it is seen that bitumen is a dark viscous material and in fact is usually a solid at normal ambient temperatures. It is widely used for road-making purposes, generally in the form of a binder for stone aggregates. For such purposes, resilience to resist deformation by heavy t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itumen chemical reactions take place, changing the nature of the molecules causing the softening point to increase. Such Blown Bitumen has different uses other than as a binder used in road making process. On the other hand Blown Bitumen because of the high softening point, imparted to it by the blowing process, becomes fit for use as roofing material, therefore, the starting material is called Straight grade Bitumen, and after the blowing process, the resultant material is known as Blown Bitumen, which is obtained as a result of chemical reactions which changes the nature of the molecules and the blown bitumen so obtained has different uses to which the starting material, because of its lower softening point, cannot be put to. Therefore, i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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