Articles made of plastics under excise tariff excluded acrylic sheets, tubes and bangles made from monomer before polymerisation.

Tariff Item 15A(2) was construed to cover articles made of plastics by reference to the material actually used in manufacture. Methyl methacrylate monomer was treated as not being plastic in itself, because it became plastic only after polymerisation. On that basis, acrylic plastic sheets, tubes and plastic bangles manufactured from virgin or regenerated monomer were held outside the entry, since the raw material was monomer rather than plastic. Acrylic sheets and tubes were also regarded as intermediate products in the making of bangles and, for that reason, were not themselves articles made of plastics under the tariff item. The products were therefore not liable to excise duty under Item 15A(2).

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Issues: Whether acrylic plastic sheets, tubes and plastic bangles manufactured from methyl methacrylate monomer, whether virgin or regenerated, are "articles made of plastics" chargeable to excise duty under Tariff Item No. 15A(2) of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Analysis: Tariff Item 15A(2) covers articles made of plastics, and the expression was construed with reference to the raw material actually used in manufacture. Monomer was held not to be a plastic material in itself; it became plastic only after polymerisation. The petitioners' products were manufactured by subjecting monomer to the polymerisation process, so the raw material was monomer and not plastic. Acrylic sheets and tubes were also treated as intermediate products in the manufacture of plastic bangles and, on that reasoning, were not themselves articles made of plastics within the tariff entry.

Conclusion: The products in question do not fall under Tariff Item No. 15A(2) and are not liable to excise duty under that item.

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