Atmospheric venting of gases during manufacture was not dutiable, with the Tribunal treating the Board circular as binding.

Gases that escaped into the atmosphere during the manufacturing process were not treated as manufactured products liable to central excise duty. The Tribunal followed its earlier ruling on the same issue and relied on a Board circular clarifying that gases falling under the relevant chapters and allowed to escape into the atmosphere were not dutiable. On that basis, it stated that the Revenue was bound by the circular, and the challenge to duty liability failed.

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Issues: Whether gases vented into the atmosphere during the manufacturing process were exigible to central excise duty.

Analysis: The Tribunal followed its earlier decision on the same issue and noted that gases which escaped into the atmosphere through the pipeline system were not treated as manufactured products liable to duty. It also relied on the Board's circular clarifying that gases falling under the relevant chapters and allowed to escape into the atmosphere were not liable to duty, and held that the Revenue was bound by that circular.

Conclusion: The gases vented into the atmosphere were not liable to central excise duty, and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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