Mere crushing of natural products does not create a new excisable commodity where essential character remains unchanged.

Crushing Shigekai pods and rita into powder did not amount to manufacture because the process did not alter the essential character of the natural product or create a new and distinct excisable commodity. The Tribunal applied the principle that mere crushing or grinding, where the original character is preserved, is insufficient to attract excise duty. It treated the product as a vegetable product or soap nut powder and found classification under Chapter Heading 33.05.99 unsustainable, with the duty demand rejected on the substantive issue of excisability.

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Issues: Whether crushing Shigekai pods and rita into powder amounts to manufacture of a new excisable product classifiable under Chapter Heading 33.05.99, or whether it remains a vegetable product / soap nut powder outside the excise net.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that the decisive question was whether the process of powdering changed the essential character of the material so as to bring into existence a new and distinct commodity. Relying on the earlier judicial view that shigekai powder is essentially soap nut powder, and on the principle that mere crushing or grinding which preserves the original character of the product does not amount to manufacture, the Tribunal concluded that the process did not create a new excisable commodity. The material was treated as a vegetable product / soap nut powder, and the classification under Chapter Heading 33.05.99 was found unsustainable.

Conclusion: The process of crushing Shigekai pods and rita into powder does not amount to manufacture of an excisable product, and the duty demands were not sustainable.

Final Conclusion: The assessment of the product was rejected under the excise classification adopted by the department, and relief followed for the appellant on the substantive issue of excisability.

Ratio Decidendi: Mere powdering or crushing that does not alter the essential character of a natural product does not amount to manufacture of a new excisable commodity.

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