Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

The disputed chapter headings are 201.00 & 1601.10 & 1601.90. The assessee have with effect from 7.6.2000 deleted the marks 'COSTA with a five pointed star" (hereinafter referred to as "COSTA") on the products. The packs also contain a yellow coloured sticker showing date of manufacture price of the product and also the mark 'COSTA.'.

b) The admitted process employed, in short, is following steps

(i) Meat in carcase form of the slaughtered animal is procured and there after processes of cleaning, chopping, cutting, mincing and converting the same into small desired pieces are effected.

(d) On examining of the list, of meat products in this case, it is found, some of them would get classified under Chapter 2 while others would go under Chapter 16 of the Tariff depending upon the treatment meted during the operation conducted on carcass procured and brought to the appellant assesses premises. The operations, if conducted and ingredients as added in certain cases would result in emergence of a new exigible commodity from Chapter 2 product to a commodity of Chapter 16 as found in the sub para (c) above The plea of the Ld Advocate that by precooking and cooking of the meats 'no manufacture' under Excise Law would take place and his reliance on the case of Indian Hotel Co Ltd v. Income tax Officer (2000) 7 Supreme Court Cases 39 wherein the Apex Court had held 'mere processing activity like preparation or selling of food packages or preparation of food stuff for serving in hotels would not amount to manufacture, will not help the assessee herein It is the case of the assessee that what they undertake is not 'cooking of food' nor the entity being marketed as food in the sense of "Ready to Eat Food'. They have relied upon material and affidavits to stress that what is marketed, needs to be and in fact is cooked, before it is consumed. The entity is claimed to be 'raw uncooked edibles' and even the Commissioner finds that they need to be cooked (see para 34 (ii) of Order-in-Original in appeal No, E/2668 & para 8 (iii) of order impugned in Appeal No. 3317/01 and para 38 (iii) of impugned order in E/2669/01). The material placed and relied only leads to conclude that meats are processed to render them as preparations, which can be preserved, marketed and be edible. The Indian Hotel's case relied upon does not specifically deal with the definition of 'manufacture' under Central Excise Act, 1944 especially the scope of Clause (ii) in the definition under the Central Excise Act, 1944 and when Chapter Note 1 of Chapter 16 is applicable. The other cases relied upon by the Ld Advocate viz D.C. of Sales Tax v. Shiphy International ((1988) 069 STC 0325) & Sterling Foods 1986)063 STC 0239) of the Supreme Court, also based on finding that frozen shrimps, prawns, lobsters are regarded commercially as the same commodity and therefore there is no manufacture will not help the assessee since sausage or say frank further are not regarded as 'pork meat' from which they are made and emerge Commercially "pork meat" is differently understood than sausage etc. When commercially known new entity emerges which is marketable, manufacture does take place, even if classification remains the same, is well settled concept of manufacture under Central Excise Law (Sea Laminated Packaging 1990 (49) ELT 326 (SC). The plea of no manufacture taking place has to be therefore rejected.