9911796707
TMI Blog2009 (5) TMI 630X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... provided that a transport subsidy will be given to the industrial units located in selected areas in respect of raw materials which are brought into and finished goods which are taken out of such areas. Sub-clause (iv) specified the north-eastern region including the State of Assam as one of the selected areas to which the scheme was made applicable. Sub-clause (xii) required the State Government to set up a Committee consisting of Director of Industries, a representative of the State Industries Department, a representative of the State Finance Department, and a nominee of the Central Government (Ministry of Industrial Development), to scrutinize and settle all claims for transport subsidy arising in the State. The said Committee was required to call upon the applicants for subsidy, to provide proof of raw materials imported into the State and finished goods exported out of the State by their industrial units, to decide their eligibility for transport subsidy. The Committee was also required to scrutinize and settle the claims in the manner indicated in the scheme. The words industrial unit , raw material and finished goods were defined in sub-clauses (a), (h) and (i) of c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y in respect of oil cake, as sanctioned by the State Level Committee. A learned Single Judge of the Guwahati High Court by order dated 4-10-1982 rejected the writ petition. The writ appeal filed by the appellant was also dismissed on 27-10-2008. The said order is challenged in this appeal. 5. The learned Single Judge and the Division Bench have held that the term finished goods used in the Scheme would not include oil cake, which was only a by-product or waste produced while manufacturing mustard oil; and transport subside was available only in regard to the finished product intended to be produced by the process of manufacture, which in this case was mustard oil. The High Court held that finished goods refers to goods produced in an industrial unit by a process of manufacture and manufacture means production of an item distinct and different from the raw material, having a separate identity; and that the appellant had failed to place before the court necessary material to explain (i) the process and technology in the manufacture of oil cake; (ii) the composition of the oil cake; (iii) the purpose and use of oil cake; and (iv) the product name in the market and the marketab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble. So when the Scheme refers to finished goods coming out of or being exported from the State (remote area), it refers to any goods manufactured or produced by an industrial unit in the State in accordance with the manufacturing programme approved by the central government and/or the state government. So long as the goods coming out is something identifiable, something which has undergone a process of manufacture, something which is marketable and tradable as a commodity, something that is completely different and distinct from raw material as a product, something that was intended to be a definite product of manufacture by the industrial unit, the product had to be considered as finished goods from the industrial unit. Any goods which goes in as a raw material required/used in the manufacturing programme of an industrial unit situated in a notified remote area, or any finished goods that is produced in the industrial unit situated in such area and exported out of the State, was eligible for the transport subsidy under the scheme. 8. The scheme itself specifically defines finished goods as goods actually produced by an industrial unit in accordance with the manufacturing pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lish the process/technology of manufacture, the composition and product name, and purpose, use and marketability of the oil cake, so as to recognize it as a finished goods . What is contained in reference works/technical Journals, or well known in trade/industrial circles, need not be established by independent evidence . It is well known that oil cake is the coarse solid residue obtained when oil is extracted from various types of oil seeds like peanuts, soyabeans, linseed, mustard, sesame and sunflower seeds. Oil cake is produced not only in oil mills/industries, but also in village level Ghanis. The standard preservation/detoxification procedure for oil cakes is sun-drying, controlled mechanical heating or by chemical processing. Oil cake is rich in proteins and minerals and commonly used as cattle feed and poultry feed. Oil cake containing toxic elements (as for example oil cake from castor beans) is used as fertilizer. Oil cake has a wide ready market. It is bulk-purchased by cattle/poultry feed manufacturers who grind it and mix it with other feed articles to make cattle/poultry feed. Farmers and owners of cattle/poultry purchase it in retail, break it or grind it and feed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Devi Das Gopal Krishnan v. State of Punjab [1967 (3) SCR 557], where this Court negatived the contention that when oil is extracted from oil seeds, oil was produced and not manufactured. This Court held that when oil is produced out of the seeds, the process certainly transforms raw material into a different article for use . What is stated about oil produced from oil seeds, will apply equally to the other product of the manufacturing process, namely oil cake. 11. There can therefore be no doubt that when mustard seeds are subjected to the process of extraction whereby mustard oil and oil cake are produced, the process involves manufacture of mustard oil as also the manufacture of oil cake. Oil cake is a distinct and different entity from mustard seeds and it has a separate name, character and use different from mustard seed. Oil cake is not a waste to be thrown away, but a valuable product with a distinct name, character, use and marketability. There can thus be no doubt that the oil cake was a finished goods eligible for transport subsidy, until it was specifically excluded by the central government in the year 1997. We are not however concerned with the validity or correctn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
