Aluminium scrap classification under excise tariff excluded from crude form entry before the 1981 amendment.

Aluminium scrap generated during manufacture of aluminium containers was treated as distinct from aluminium in crude form under Tariff Item 27(a)(i) of the Central Excise Tariff. The tariff entry covered crude aluminium such as ingots, bars, blocks, slabs, billets, shots and pellets, but did not include scrap, and the later insertion of a separate entry for waste and scrap supported that distinction. Scrap arising after further manufacture from aluminium circles, which were themselves treated as manufactured goods, was therefore outside the crude form entry before 1-3-1981, and the duty demand failed.

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Issues: Whether aluminium scrap generated during the manufacture of aluminium containers was classifiable and chargeable to duty under Tariff Item 27(a)(i) of the Central Excise Tariff as aluminium in crude form before the amendment of 1-3-1981.

Analysis: The relevant tariff entry covered aluminium in any crude form and specifically mentioned ingots, bars, blocks, slabs, billets, shots and pellets, but not scrap. The scrap arose only after further manufacture from aluminium circles, which themselves were treated as aluminium manufactures and not as crude aluminium. The nature of the product, the structure of the tariff entry, and the later insertion of a separate entry for waste and scrap showed that such scrap was not intended to be taxed under the crude form entry before the amendment.

Conclusion: Aluminium scrap generated in the manufacture of containers was not classifiable under Tariff Item 27(a)(i) as aluminium in crude form before 1-3-1981, and the demand failed.

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