Filtration of raw mustard oil is not manufacture for sales tax exemption where the commodity remains fundamentally unchanged.

Filtration of raw mustard oil into packed mustard oil did not amount to manufacture or production for sales tax exemption purposes under the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993. The court held that the broad definition of manufacture still required a noticeable and legally relevant change in the input product, and the process here merely removed impurities without creating a distinctly different commodity. The phrase "producing such goods" in section 9(4) was read as requiring actual production, which was not satisfied on these facts. The exemption claim therefore failed and the assessment and demand were upheld.

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Issues: Whether filtration of raw mustard oil into pure mustard oil amounted to manufacture or production within section 2(22) and section 9(4) of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993 so as to entitle the unit to sales tax exemption under the Assam Industries (Sales Tax Concession) Scheme, 1997.

Analysis: The wide definition of manufacture in section 2(22) was held not to dispense with the requirement that the finished product be noticeably different from the input. The process in the unit consisted only of filtration, by which impurities were removed from raw mustard oil before packing. On the facts, the end product remained fundamentally the same as the raw material and did not result in a distinctly different commodity or a meaningful transformation amounting to manufacture. The expression "producing such goods" in section 9(4) was also read as emphasising actual production of goods, and filtration of raw mustard oil did not amount to production in that sense. The delay ground was not accepted as an independent basis for rejection.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to sales tax exemption on the filtered mustard oil, and the challenge to the assessment and demand failed.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purposes of section 2(22) and section 9(4) of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993, a process qualifies for exemption-linked manufacture or production only when it brings about a noticeable and legally relevant change in the input product; mere filtration that leaves the commodity fundamentally unchanged is insufficient.

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