LexCOLLECTOR OF CENTRAL,EXCISE, COIMBATORE versus PROTEIN PRODUCTS OF INDIA LTD
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
'i' COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL,EXCISE, COIMBATORE A :~ '\ v .·'·. :' PROTEIN PRODUCTS OF INDIA LTD. NOVEMBER 28, 1988 ·iSABYASACHI MUKHARJI ANDS. RANGANATHAN, JJ.] B Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944-Section 35L and Notification dated June 30, 1979-ltem 'crushed bones and bone products'-'Ossein and ge/atine'-Whether 'bone products'-Whether exempt from excise duty. The respondent-company manufactures ossein .and gelatine from bones. Ossein is prepared from bones by dissolving the mineral part of the bones with phosphoric acid. From the ossein so obtained, gelatine is obtaind by treating the same further with an alkali. The company claimed exemption from excise duty under a notification of the Govern- ment of India dated 30.6.1979 wherein crushed bones and. bone pro- ducts were added as an item exempt from payment of excise duty. The respondent appealed to the Appellate Tribunal which held that the products manufactured by tht respondent company are 'bone products', and the company is .entitled to the benefit of the notification, treating it as a 'bone product'. The appellant-Revenue, therefore, filed an appeal before this Court under section 35L of the Central Excises & Salt Act, I 9J4 and contended that the words 'bone products' should be read alongwith the words crushed bones, and ossein and gelatine cannot be described as hone products because they conld also be obtained from raw material other than bones, such as pig skin and hides. Dismissing the appeal, the Court, c D E F HELD: The expression 'bone products merely means anything produced or obtained from bones. Whether such derivation is by a G simple physical process or by a chemical reaction would seem to make no difference to the end.product. [996F] ~ . The products in question ossein are derived merely by the extrac- tion of the mineral parts of the bones. Gelatine is obtained by a further . treatment, with an alkali, of the ossein manufactured from the bones. It . H 993 994 SUPREME COURT REPO.RTS [1988] Supp. 3 S.C.R. A is the collageon which forms the· organk content of the bones that is utilised in the manufacture of ossein and gelatine. [996E] B c '# • ~ Collector of Customs, Bombay v. Swastic Woollen (P) Ltd. & Ors., J. T. 1988 3 S.C. 558, reiterated. 'Bone products' does not mean that the products must contain visible pieces of bones and that the expression is limited only to the primary products obtained on crushing of bones such as bone sinew, bone grist, and bone meal. [995C] The ossein and gelatine manufactured by the respondent can, without straining the expression used in the notification, be described as bone products. [996G] · CIVIL APPEALLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 1420 of 1988. D From the Order dated 13.11.1987 of the Customs, Excise and E Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi in Appeal No. 1441/ 83-C in Order No. 915187-C. M.K. Banerjee, Solii:itor General, H. Sharma, Mrs. Sushma Suri for the Appellant. Soli J. Sorabjee, A.N. Haksar, R. Narain, D.N. Misra and P.K. Ram for the Respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by F RANGANATHAN, J. A very short question is involved in this appeal under section 35L of the Central Excises & Salt Act, 1944. The respondent, M/s Protein Products of India, manufactures ossein and gelatine. It claimed exemption from excise duty under a notification of the Government of India dated 30.6.1979. By this G notification one more item was added to a list of items exempted from payment of excise duty under an earlier notification dated 1.3.75. This item reads as follows: 'Crushed bones and bone products.' H The respondent company manufactures the above products from H COLLECTOR \?g,_c.E. v. PROTE)N PRODUCTS iRA'.NG~NATHAN, J.] i9.5 bones.,Ossein is prepared from bones by dissolving the mineral part of the bo~eswhh phosphoric acid. Fro~' the os~ein so obtained,'gelatine is obtained by treating the same furth.er 'with an alkali. Although gelatine can also be manufactured from other squrces such as pig skin and hides, it ·is common ground that the respondent company was manufacturing gelatine only from bones: The. Customs, Exci;e and Gold (Con;rol) Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT)has taken the. view that the products manufactured by the respondent company are 'bone products' and that the company is entitled to the benefit of the. notification dated 30.6.79 referred to earlier .. The Tribunal pointed out that,
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.