Home consumption under customs law covers any use in India, and transhippers can qualify as ocean-going vessels.

Section 46 of the Customs Act treats "home consumption" broadly: it covers any use or utilization of goods within India and does not require the article to be completely depleted or destroyed in identity. The article also explains that "ocean-going vessels" should be read in a practical, trade-oriented sense, having regard to the vessel's design, equipment and actual use in open sea operations. On that approach, transhippers fall within the category of ocean-going vessels and may claim the customs exemption notification referred to in the text.

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Issues: (i) Whether the expression "home consumption" in Section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962 requires the goods to be completely used up or destroyed in identity; (ii) Whether transhippers are "ocean-going vessels" entitled to the benefit of the customs exemption notification.

Issue (i): Whether the expression "home consumption" in Section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962 requires the goods to be completely used up or destroyed in identity.

Analysis: The expression "consumption" in fiscal law is not confined to the narrow sense of complete depletion or destruction of identity. In the context of Section 46, any utilization of the commodity within India amounts to home consumption, even if the article retains its identity after use.

Conclusion: The expression "home consumption" is wide enough to include use or utilization within India and does not require complete destruction of the article's identity.

Issue (ii): Whether transhippers are "ocean-going vessels" entitled to the benefit of the customs exemption notification.

Analysis: The Court construed "ocean-going vessels" in a practical and trade-oriented sense, reading it broadly in light of the vessel's design, equipment, operational use in the open sea, the meaning of "foreign-going vessel" and "sea-going vessel" in allied maritime statutes, and the fact that the Government later issued a notification covering all vessels other than floating structures. The test of dominant use was not accepted as determinative where the nature of the vessel itself showed ocean-going capability and actual ocean use.

Conclusion: Transhippers are ocean-going vessels and are entitled to the benefit of Notification No. 262-Customs dated 11.10.1958.

Final Conclusion: The exemption benefit was available to transhippers, and the challenge to the customs demand failed.

Ratio Decidendi: In fiscal statutes, "home consumption" covers any use or utilization within India, and a vessel designed, equipped, and used for operations in the open sea cannot be excluded from the category of ocean-going vessels merely because its primary commercial function is transhipment.

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