Pulverisation of rock phosphate is not manufacture for excise duty purposes under Entry No. 14(HH).

Pulverisation of rock phosphate was considered against the excise question whether the activity amounts to "manufacture" under Entry No. 14(HH) of the Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. The Court agreed with the Tribunal that the process did not satisfy the legal requirement of manufacture, and the earlier contrary Tribunal view, based on a Delhi High Court decision later reversed by the Supreme Court, did not alter that conclusion. Accordingly, pulverisation of rock phosphate was not treated as a manufacture process for excise purposes, and no duty was leviable.

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Issues: Whether pulverisation of rock phosphate amounts to a process of manufacture so as to attract duty under Entry No. 14(HH) of the Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Analysis: The Tribunal had held that pulverisation of rock phosphate did not amount to manufacture and therefore no duty was leviable. A contrary Tribunal view in an earlier matter had relied on a Delhi High Court decision, but that High Court decision had since been reversed by the Supreme Court. On the facts of the present case, the Court found no ground to differ from the Tribunal's view that the activity did not satisfy the requirement of manufacture for excise duty purposes.

Conclusion: Pulverisation of rock phosphate is not a process of manufacture within Entry No. 14(HH) of the Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, and no duty is leviable.

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