Classification of goods as cement upheld where test reports and records disproved the claimed exempt product.

The department's classification of the product as ordinary Portland cement was upheld because the chemical examiner's test report, employee statements, and contemporaneous shift and production records consistently supported that finding. The assessee failed to produce any reliable contrary test report or other evidence showing that the goods cleared were not cement or that they qualified as exempt sagol under the claimed notification. On that evidence, the exemption claim was rejected, and the demand and penalties were left undisturbed.

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Issues: Whether the product manufactured and cleared by the appellants was cement chargeable to central excise duty, or sagol exempt under the claimed notification.

Analysis: The evidentiary record included the chemical examiner's test report, the statements of the appellants' personnel, and the contemporaneous shift and production records, all of which supported the finding that the goods were ordinary Portland cement and not sagol. The appellants did not substantiate their assertion with any reliable contrary test report or other evidence establishing that the product manufactured and removed was not cement.

Conclusion: The finding that the goods were cement was sustained, and the demand and penalties were not interfered with.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the assessee fails to disprove a departmental finding, supported by test reports and contemporaneous records, that the goods are excisable cement, the claim that the goods are a different exempt product cannot be accepted.

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