Excise classification of quilt panel failed where no independent marketability was shown and duty demand was unsustainable.

Quilt panel emerging during manufacture of rubberized coir mattresses was not treated as a separately marketable quilt under Heading 9404 90 19 because it was used exclusively in exempt final products and no independent marketability was shown. Applying the principle that excise duty cannot be sustained where manufacture is incomplete and the article does not emerge as a distinct marketable commodity, the duty demand was held unsustainable. The discussion also noted that Board guidance on Heading 5811 covers quilted textile products used in making quilted final products, while padded bedding and similar furnishing articles of Chapter 94 fall outside that heading.

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Issues: Whether the quilt panel emerging during manufacture of rubberized coir mattresses was classifiable as a quilt falling under Heading 9404 90 19, and whether duty could be demanded on the ground that the intermediate product was marketable and separately excisable.

Analysis: The quilt panel was found to be used exclusively in the manufacture of exempt final products and was not shown to have any independent marketability. The reasoning followed the principle that where manufacture is not complete and the article does not emerge as a distinct marketable commodity, excise duty cannot be sustained. The Board circular on Heading 5811 was also relied upon to note that quilted textile products covered by that heading are only those used in making quilted final products such as bedding or bedspreads, while padded articles of bedding or similar furnishing of Chapter 94 fall outside that heading.

Conclusion: The quilt panel could not be treated as a separately marketable quilt under Heading 9404 90 19, and the demand of duty was unsustainable; the appeal was therefore allowed.

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