Pleating of fabrics and manufacture under excise law follows prior bench precedent, leaving the process outside manufacture

Pleating of fabrics was held not to amount to manufacture under Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 54 where an earlier coordinate bench had already decided the same issue in favour of the assessee. The Tribunal followed that precedent and found no basis to depart from it, as the trade notice and a chemist's opinion did not provide sufficient contrary material to displace the earlier view. The process therefore remained outside the scope of manufacture in the circumstances considered, and the assessee succeeded.

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Issues: Whether pleating of fabrics amounts to manufacture under Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 54 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.

Analysis: The dispute turned on whether pleating of fabric fell within the scope of a process amounting to manufacture under the relevant chapter note. The Tribunal noted that the issue had already been decided in favour of the assessee in an earlier coordinate bench decision and found no reason to depart from that view. The trade notice and the departmental reliance on a chemist's opinion were not found sufficient to displace the earlier decision, particularly in the absence of supporting material showing how the view against the assessee was reached.

Conclusion: Pleating of fabrics does not amount to manufacture in the circumstances considered, and the issue is decided in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an earlier coordinate bench has already decided that a particular textile process does not amount to manufacture under the relevant chapter note, and no contrary material is shown, the same view should be followed.

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