Ready mix concrete classification turns on batching-plant manufacture; site-mixed concrete was treated as non-dutiable.

Ready mix concrete is treated as a distinct product only where it is manufactured through a batching plant with controlled weighing, mixing and transportation; site-mixed concrete follows the conventional construction-site method and is not automatically dutiable as ready mix concrete. Relying on Supreme Court and earlier Tribunal precedents, including the appellant's own case, the Tribunal held that the controversy was settled and that exemption applied where there was no admissible evidence of manufacture of ready mix concrete. On that basis, site-manufactured concrete mix was accepted as non-dutiable, and the demand, interest and penalty could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether ready mix concrete manufactured at construction sites was dutiable as distinct from concrete mix, and whether the demand, interest, and penalty could be sustained when the goods were found to be site-manufactured concrete mix.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that the controversy was no longer res integra and had already been settled by the Supreme Court and earlier Tribunal orders distinguishing ready mix concrete from concrete mix. It relied on the accepted characteristics of ready mix concrete as a product manufactured through a batching plant with controlled weighing, mixing, and transportation, while site-mixed concrete fell within the conventional method of concrete production used at the construction site. The Tribunal also referred to its earlier decision in the appellant's own case, where exemption had been allowed for concrete mix manufactured at site in the absence of admissible evidence showing manufacture of ready mix concrete. Applying the same reasoning, the Tribunal found the present appeals covered by those precedents.

Conclusion: The goods were treated as concrete mix manufactured at site and not as dutiable ready mix concrete, and the demand, interest, and penalty were unsustainable.

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