Excisability of spent solvents denied where no distinct manufactured commodity emerged from bulk drug production waste.

Spent solvents and industrial waste cleared during bulk drug manufacturing were held not to be excisable goods because the record did not show that they emerged as a distinct, new and identifiable commodity through a process amounting to manufacture. The absence of sample testing to prove alleged high purity, and the fact that mere possibility of later use by others did not establish excisability, meant the departmental appeal had no merit.

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Issues: Whether spent solvents and industrial waste cleared during the manufacturing process were excisable goods.

Analysis: The impugned goods were found, on the evidence available after remand, to be spent solvents and industrial waste arising from repeated use or recycling of solvents in the manufacture of bulk drugs. No sample testing was done to establish the alleged high purity, and the record did not show that the material had emerged as a distinct and new identifiable commodity by a process amounting to manufacture. Mere possibility of subsequent use by others did not make the goods excisable.

Conclusion: The spent solvents were not excisable goods, and the departmental appeal had no merit.

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