Consolidated excise licence permitted for one factory complex with multiple divisions under the same legal entity.

A consolidated L-4 excise licence is permissible where excisable goods are manufactured by the same legal entity within one factory complex comprising divisions or sub-divisions. The licensing scheme contemplated description of the factory premises, including its boundaries and main divisions, and the statutory definition of factory supported treating the complex as a single manufacturing unit. The fact that the licence form was amended did not change the basic character of the premises, and the refusal to issue one consolidated licence was therefore unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellant was entitled to one consolidated L-4 excise licence for different excisable goods manufactured within the same factory complex comprising several divisions or sub-divisions.

Analysis: The application for an L-4 licence contemplated the description of the factory premises, including its boundaries and main divisions or sub-divisions. The record showed that the different units formed part of one industrial complex within a common boundary wall and that there was only one legal entity carrying on manufacture through different divisions. The object of the licensing scheme was to permit a single licence for manufacture within one factory area, and the statutory definition of factory supported that approach. The amendment to the licence form did not alter the basic character of the premises as one factory complex.

Conclusion: The appellant was entitled to a consolidated licence, and the refusal to grant one was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where excisable goods are manufactured by the same legal entity within one factory complex comprising divisions or sub-divisions, a consolidated licence is permissible if the premises constitute one factory within the statutory definition.

---