Customs, Excise and Gold Tribunal - Calcutta
M/S. Non-Desctructive Test Appliances ... vs Cce, Kolkata- I on 17 January, 2001
ORDER
Smt.Archana Wadhwa.
1. The prayer in the stay petition is for dispensing with the condition of pre-deposit of an amount of duty of Rs.1,15,600/- and an equivalent amount of penalty imposed under the provision of section 11AC.
2. The appellants are manufacturers of testing equipments and were availing the benefit of small scale exemption notification. During the period, when their factory was under lock out, the appellant got the goods manufactured from another small scale manufacturer on job-work basis by supplying raw material to him. The department entertained a view that the value of the goods got manufactured by the appellants from their job workers is required to be added while computing the clearance value of the appellant and as with such addition the appellant croses the exemption limit they are required to pay duty. On the other hand the appellants' contention is that they are simply raw material supplier to their job worker and it is the job worker who actually manufactured the goods. It is well settled principle of law that raw material supplier does not become manufacturer by the mere fact of being a supplier of raw materials. In these premises Shri S.K.Roychowdhury, ld.adv. appearing for the appellant prays for grant of unconditional stay.
3. After giving our careful consideration to the arguments advanced from both the sides, we prima facie find force in the appellants' submissions. Even though the appellant had initially intended to claim the benefit of not fn.no.214/86, but actually did not go for the same inasmuch as the same was not applicable because the goods being manufactured by the job worker was not intermediate goods, but was final product. It is no more res integra that the raw material supplier cannot be held to the manufacturer of the goods, when the goods have actually been manufactured by a job worker. In view of the foregoing we allow the stay petition unconditionally. At this stage we find that as nothing more is required to be argued from either side appeal itself can be taken up for disposal. We do so with the consent of both the sides and set aside the impugned order and allow the appeal.