Expanded manufacture definition upheld for excise, and provisional tax collection allowed from Finance Bill introduction.

Parliament may validly enlarge the statutory definition of "manufacture" and tariff coverage to bring lacquering and printing of aluminium containers within the excise charge, and such amendments were held constitutionally valid and not ultra vires. The levy was treated as a permissible excise impost on a process connected with manufacture, with the legislative entries construed liberally. The Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 also permitted immediate collection from the date of introduction of the Finance Bill where the required statutory declaration was made, so the enhanced duty operated before the Finance Act commenced and the interim-period refund claim failed.

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Issues: (i) Whether the amendments to the definition of "manufacture" and the tariff entries bringing lacquering and printing of aluminium containers within the excise levy were unconstitutional or ultra vires; (ii) Whether the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 authorised collection of duty from the date of introduction of the Finance Bill, including the period before the Finance Act came into force.

Issue (i): Whether the amendments to the definition of "manufacture" and the tariff entries bringing lacquering and printing of aluminium containers within the excise levy were unconstitutional or ultra vires.

Analysis: The amendments were tested against the legislative competence of Parliament under Entry 84 of List I, and the broader residuary power under Entry 97 of List I was also relevant. The levy on lacquering and printing was treated as a valid excise impost on a process connected with manufacture, and the legislative entries were required to receive a liberal construction. The prior view that such processes were post-manufacturing did not prevent Parliament from enlarging the statutory definition and the tariff coverage.

Conclusion: The amendments were held to be constitutionally valid and not ultra vires; this issue was decided in favour of Revenue.

Issue (ii): Whether the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 authorised collection of duty from the date of introduction of the Finance Bill, including the period before the Finance Act came into force.

Analysis: The Finance Bill carried the statutory declaration contemplated by Section 3 of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931. The amendments were treated as effecting an increase in duty by bringing the process of lacquering and printing within the charge and by requiring inclusion of those costs in assessable value. The measure of levy was distinguished from the nature of the duty, and the declaration was held sufficient to permit immediate effect from the date of introduction of the Bill.

Conclusion: Collection from the date of introduction of the Finance Bill was upheld, and the claim for refund for the interim period was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the writ petition was dismissed, and the challenge to the excise amendments as well as the claim for interim-period refund failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Parliament may validly enlarge the statutory concept of manufacture and tariff coverage to bring a processing activity within the excise charge, and where the Finance Bill contains the requisite declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931, the enhanced levy may operate from the date of introduction of the Bill.

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