Marketability for excisability: quilt fabric in running length was not liable to duty absent proof of marketability.

Quilt fabric in running length was treated as an intermediate product, but excisability depended on proof of marketability. The assessee contended that the fabric was not marketable without further edge binding after cutting to size, and that factual position was not rebutted. The Revenue failed to discharge the burden of showing that the goods were marketable. In the absence of marketability, the product could not be regarded as an excisable commodity, and duty was not leviable on it.

---

---

Issues: Whether quilt fabric in running length was a marketable and excisable product liable to duty, and whether the Revenue had proved marketability so as to displace the assessee's claim that the product was only an intermediate product.

Analysis: The manufacturing process showed that the product emerged as quilt fabric in running length, which the assessee stated was not marketable without further edge binding after cutting to size. That factual assertion was not rebutted by the Revenue. The Revenue also failed to discharge the burden of establishing that the goods sought to be subjected to duty were marketable. In the absence of marketability, the product could not be treated as an excisable commodity for levy of duty.

Conclusion: Quilt fabric in running length was held to be not an excisable product, and the assessee's claim succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Marketability is a necessary condition for excisability, and where the Revenue fails to prove that the goods are marketable, duty cannot be levied on the product.

---