Manufacture test under sales tax law: mere cleaning or filtering of mutton tallow did not create a new commercial commodity.

Filtering mutton tallow by removing dust and bone-pieces does not amount to manufacture under section 2(e-1) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act where the process merely cleans or filters the product and does not create a different commercial commodity. The test is whether the goods emerging after processing have a distinct identity in the market; if the essential character of the commodity remains unchanged, no manufacture occurs. On that basis, the assessee was not treated as a manufacturer of mutton tallow, and the revision failed.

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Issues: Whether filtering mutton tallow by removing dust and bone-pieces amounts to manufacture of mutton tallow under section 2(e-1) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: Manufacture, as defined in section 2(e-1), covers producing, making, altering, processing, treating or adapting goods, but the essential enquiry remains whether the article emerging after labour is a different commercial commodity. Where the commodity retains its identity and the process only cleans or filters it without changing its essential character, the process does not amount to manufacture. Applying that principle, the sale of mutton tallow after removal of dust and bone-pieces was only a form of cleaning or filtering and did not bring into existence a new commercial product.

Conclusion: The assessee was not a manufacturer of mutton tallow and the revision failed.

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