Mere increase in purity does not amount to manufacture for excise when no distinct tariffable product is shown.

Increasing the purity of lead ingots from 99.5% to 99.9% did not, on the record, create a distinct excisable product or amount to manufacture under Chapter 78. The tariff description treated refined lead as metal containing at least 99.9% lead, and the lower authorities' finding of manufacture was found erroneous in law and fact. In the absence of any supporting test report or other evidentiary basis for the departmental allegation, the duty demand, penalties and confiscation were set aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether processing lead ingots from 99.5% purity to 99.9% purity amounted to manufacture and justified confirmation of duty, penalty, and confiscation.

Analysis: The tariff structure for Chapter 78 showed that refined lead is metal containing by weight at least 99.9% of lead, and the record did not support the view that lead of 99.9% purity stood under a separate excise entry merely because of the increase in purity. The finding of manufacture recorded by the lower authorities was held to be erroneous in law and fact. The absence of any test report supporting the departmental allegation also undermined the demand.

Conclusion: The process of increasing the purity of lead ingots from 99.5% to 99.9% was not held to amount to manufacture, and the duty demand, penalties, and confiscation were set aside in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Mere increase in purity, without a distinct tariffable product or evidentiary support establishing manufacture, does not by itself constitute manufacture for excise purposes.

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