Job work exemption denied where lead ingots were chemically transformed into a distinct product through complete manufacture.

Conversion of customer-supplied lead ingots into lead sub-oxide and litharge was not treated as eligible job work under Notification No. 119/75-C.E. The decisive test was whether the entrusted article retained its essential identity after processing; here, the ingots underwent a complete manufacturing process and chemical transformation into a materially different product. The Tribunal stated that the notification covers work done to complete an article already in existence, not a separate process of complete manufacture producing a chemically distinct substance. On that reasoning, the exemption claim failed.

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Issues: Whether conversion of lead ingots supplied by customers into lead sub-oxide and litharge amounted to job work eligible for the benefit of Notification No. 119/75-C.E. dated 30-04-1975.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that mere emergence of a new product does not by itself exclude the benefit of the notification, but the decisive test is whether the article entrusted by the customer retains its essential identity after processing. On the facts, the supplied lead ingots underwent a complete manufacturing process and a chemical transformation, resulting in a product that was materially different from the input. The Tribunal followed its earlier view that job work under the notification is confined to work done to bring an article already in existence to completion, and not to a separate process of complete manufacture producing a chemically different substance.

Conclusion: The conversion of lead ingots into litharge and lead sub-oxide was not eligible job work under Notification No. 119/75-C.E. dated 30-04-1975, and the claim for exemption failed.

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