9911796707
TMI Blog2001 (4) TMI 96X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to pay, it had made several representations, but of to no avail and at last invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. 2.M/s. Duncan Tea Sales Limited, Calcutta is the manufacturer of the tea and the said loose tea is sent to the petitioner for packaging varying in weight from 3 grams to 500 grams and after the said package, the petitioner delivers back the said tea in packages to M/s. Duncan Tea Sales Limited. The loose tea sent by M/s. Duncan Tea Sales Limited had already suffered excise duty. But, the petitioner was made to believe that for packaging also, he needs to obtain licence and the petitioner had obtained licence and in accordance with the conditions of licence, he had paid the excis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... beverage made from the dried leaves of the tea plant, an evergreen shrub or a small tree. After the tea is made as final product of the manufacturer and before its removal from the place of production, the manufacturer pays excise duty. 3.The question for consideration is as to whether loose tea received from Duncan Tea Sales Limited and picking it and packaging it in various sizes and sending it back to M/s. Duncan Tea Sales Limited, which sells it in market, involves any manufacturing process? 4.This case has a checkered history. By order dated 15-10-1987, a Division Bench of this Court held that the act of packaging by the petitioner does not involve any manufacturing activity and as such, is not exigible to excise duty. Against this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ure which makes the article excisable to duty and that the authorities are entitled to treat package tea as a separate and excisable item and excise duty levied over package tea is valid and lawful. With regard to the second point, it is held that blending of tea is a process of manufacture resulting in a new tea product having a distinctive quality change whose price varies with the quality. On the third point, it is held that the distinction between packages weighing 27 Kgs or less and those weighing in excess thereof is found to be reasonable. 6.In the instant case, the material on record does not show that blending activity has been done at petitioner's place. Blending is done at the manufacturing place and the said blended tea is sen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rein are manufacturers of Vanaspathi and for the said purpose, purchased ground-nut and Til oil in open market or directly from the manufacturers of such oil and the said oils are subjected to different processes in order to refine them and turn into Vanaspathi. It was held by the Supreme Court that the intermediary vegetable non-essential oils containing impurities, which undergo the process of cleansing is not a new product and that it is not separately chargeable and only final product of Vanaspathi is chargeable to excise duty. In J. G. Glass Industries Ltd's case (supra), the process of printing of bottles was sought to be charged to excise duty. A question arose as to whether such process of printing of bottles amounts to manufacturin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ufacturing activity relating to tea even though package tea is excisable item. The act/kind of package done by the petitioner is not excisable. But, if the manufacturer himself packs the tea in packages before clearance by the excise officials at the place of manufacturing, then the said package tea is chargeable to excise duty. To say, more clearly, that if the manufacturer of the tea seeks a clearance of the excise authorities as a loose tea, then it is exigible to the tax as leviable for loose tea. On the other hand, if the manufacturer seeks clearance of the package tea, the package tea is leviable with duty as distinct commodity than loose tea and like-wise the instant tea also. But, such levies on distinct items of tea as loose tea, p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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