Marketability governs excise duty: intermediate carded gilled sliver was held incapable of sale and not excisable.

Carded gilled sliver, produced only at an intermediate stage in the continuous manufacture of woollen yarn, was not liable to excise duty because it lacked marketability and could not be sold or removed without destroying its identity. Excise duty attaches only to goods capable of being sold in the market and therefore answering the description of excisable goods. The later authority relied on by the Revenue was distinguished as dealing with the point of levy rather than the threshold requirement of marketability.

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Issues: Whether carded gilled sliver, being an intermediate product arising in the continuous manufacture of woollen yarn and incapable of sale, was exigible to excise duty.

Analysis: The product in question emerged only at an intermediate stage of an uninterrupted manufacturing process and was not a commodity which could be sold to a consumer or removed from the factory without destroying its identity. The controlling principle applied was that excise duty attaches only to goods that are capable of being sold in the market and therefore answer the description of excisable goods. The later decision relied on by the Revenue was distinguished because it dealt with the point of levy and not with the fundamental requirement of marketability.

Conclusion: Carded gilled sliver was not liable to excise duty as it was incapable of being sold and therefore did not constitute excisable goods.

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