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TMI Blog1985 (3) TMI 269X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e duty under Notification No. 23/55, dated 29-4-1955. The Assistant Collector had denied the benefit of this exemption and the Appellate Collector set aside the Assistant Collector s order and extended the benefit of the exemption. 2. We have heard Shri S.N. Khanna, Departmental Representative for the Appellant and Shri T.M. Ansari, Advocate for the Respondents. 3. Notification No. 23/55 issued by the Central Government under Central Excise Rule 8(1) exempts several specified products from the whole of the duty leviable thereon under Section 3 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. The entry relevant for our present purpose reads as follows : Minerals, employed either as extenders, suspending agents or fillers or as diluents, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... try in the notification. Consequently, he allowed the appeal. 7. Before us, Shri Khanna, learned Departmental Representative, contended that precipitated chalk manufactured by the Respondents was coated with stearic acid. The coating had the effect of making the substance mix more effectively and making it a better filler because of its better flow. He contended that, in trade and technical parlance, coated precipitated chalk was different from and not the same thing as uncoated precipitated chalk. He relied upon passages from the Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology by Kirk-Othmer. He also referred to Tariff Advice No. 140, dated 30th December, 1981 issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs to the effect that coated precipitated ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n the trade as precipitated chalk, reliance being placed for this purpose on the affidavits on record from dealers. Shri Ansari contended that the product fulfilled all the requirements for exemption. In support of the stand that a particular grade of a product is not to be taken as something different from that product, he cited the decision of the Kings Bench on the famous Saccharin case - McNicol and another v. Finch - decided by the King s Bench and the Bombay High Court decision in Sandoz India Ltd. v. Union of India and others (1980 E.L.T. 696) and the Andhra Pradesh High Court in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Shri Durga Hardware Store and another - STC (32) 322. 9. We have carefully considered the submissions before us. The notificat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ence of chemical additives. Following carbonation, the product can be further purified by screening as the impurities in the milk-of-lime remain as coarse particles in comparision to the micrometer-sized, precipitated calcium carbonate. This screening, also used to control the maximum size of the product, is followed by dewatering. Rotary vacuum filters, pressure filters, or centrifuge are used in the mechanical removal of water. Washing of the filter cake is unnecessary as water is the only by-product of carbonation. The filter cake solids are generally 25-60%. CaCO 3 , depending, to a large degree, on the particle size of the precipitated carbonate. Final drying is accomplished in either a rotary, tunnel, spray, or flash dryer (see ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a mineral lacks substance in so far as these notifications are concerned. If, as we have seen, precipitated chalk is a mineral (and Kirk-Othmer calls it one of the most versatile mineral fillers), coated precipitated chalk also is. Apart from this, the word Chalk has been assigned in the notification itself an expanded inclusive meaning. The inclusion clause, taking as it does Precipitated Chalk, can, in our opinion, take in coated precipitated chalk also. It is also to be noted that the Handbook of Fillers and Reinforcements for Plastics , relied upon by Shri Ansari, shows precipitated calcium carbonate and Surface-Coated Carbonate under the head Mineral Fillers . 13. Shri Khanna said that having regard to the restricted scope of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tricted its scope to the specified parts of cycles, namely, free-wheels and rims. The question was whether cycle spokes, nipples and washers were covered by that item. The Tribunal said `no . The relevance of this decision to the present case is not clear. No one can seriously contend that spokes, washers and nipples are either free-wheels or rims. Here the question is whether the term precipitated chalk will take in the coated grade. We think that the cited decision is of no relevance. 15. Shri Ansari cited the Bombay High Court decision in 1980 E.L.T. 696 (supra). That case revolved round the question whether a mere change in physical form of a substance without any change in the chemical composition could be equated with manufactur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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