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TMI Blog2015 (4) TMI 931X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at they intend to reroll the hot rolled flats of uneven having thickness less than 4.75 MM and uneven width less than 600 MM falling under heading 72.14 of the tariff and according to them that process which would result in elimination of unevenness and minor reduction in thickness, would not amount to manufacture. Along with this letter they also enclosed a flow chart for the rerolling process of the hot roll flat bars and they sought views of the Assistant Commissioner as to whether their process would amount to manufacture. The Jurisdictional Superintendent Central Excise under his letter 05.01.1994 informed that by their process no new excisable goods emerged and they need not register themselves with Central Excise Department. Accordin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... issued to the appellant for demand of Central Excise Duty amounting Rs. 1,36,48,645/- from the appellant in respect of alleged clearances of cold roll products during period from August 1995 to March 2000 along with interest thereon under section 11AB and also for imposition of penalty on the appellant under section 11AC. The Show Cause Notice also sought imposition of penalty under Rule 209A of the Central Excise Rule 1944 on Shri Raj Kumar, Partner, of the appellant firm. 1.2 The Show Cause Notice was adjudicated by the Commissioner vide order-in-original dated 30.01.2006 by which the Commissioner holding that the process being undertaken by the appellant is not hot rerolling process and the goods which emerged by these process are cold ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ds subjected to process, that is, hot rolled products so as to classify the goods as cold roll products, that the appellant had fully disclosed the processes being undertaken by them to the Department and only on confirmation from the Department that their process would not amount to manufacture had started their operations, that in view of this, in any case, the longer limitation period would not apply and the bulk of the duty demand would be time barred and for the same reason penalty under section 11AC would not be attracted. He, therefore, pleaded that the impugned order is not correct. 4. Shri R K Grover, the Ld. DR, defended the impugned order by reiterating the findings of the Commissioner and pointed out that:- (a). hot rolling ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of hot rolling, the RPM should be more than 180; He, therefore, pleaded that the goods being manufactured by the appellant were cold rolled products, and that though prior to starting the manufacturing process, the appellant had intimated the Department about their process giving the flow chart, in that flow chart they had not revealed the relevant facts and had concealed the fact from the Department that the rerolling was to be done at temperature below 1000oC, and thus, the appellant have suppressed the relevant facts from the Department. He, accordingly, pleaded that there is no infirmity in the impugned order. 5. We have considered the submissions from both the sides and perused the records. The undisputed facts are that the appellant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g for which the cold rolled products are required. 6. In terms of Explanatory notes IV(B) to chapter 72 of the HSN notes, while hot rolling means rolling at a temperature between the point of rapid re-crystallization, and that of the beginning of fusion , that while the hot rolling is done at temperatures above 900oC, cold rolling is carried out at ambient Temperature, that is, below re-crystallization temperature, and that, one distinguishing feature between hot rolled and cold rolled products is that microscopic examination of cold worked products reveals a marked deformation of the grains and grain orientation parallel to the direction of working and by contrast the products obtained by hot processes show almost regular grains owing to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... HSN, as no tests has been done to ascertain as to whether microscopic examination of the product, in question, reveals a marked deformation of the grains and the grains orientation parallel to the direction of the working. Merely on the basis on the types of customers who were buying the products or the statements of the suppliers of the rolling stands that the rolls supplied by them were suitable for cold rolling, it cannot be concluded that the product of the appellant was a cold roll product. 7. In terms of the HSN explanatory notes, if a hot rolled product has been subjected to very light cold rolling process known as skin pass or pinch pass without significant reduction of thickness, the process does not result in change of the charac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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