Marketability test for excise duty: captive-use steel benches were not dutiable absent proof they could be sold in the market.

Central excise duty applies only if an item satisfies the test of marketability, meaning it must be capable of being bought and sold as such. Steel benches fabricated for captive use in moving moulds were not shown by the department to have ordinary marketability or saleability in the market, and mere internal use did not establish that character. The benches were therefore not marketable goods and were not liable to central excise duty.

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Issues: Whether the steel benches fabricated by the assessee for its own use were marketable goods so as to attract central excise duty.

Analysis: Liability to central excise duty depends on the product answering the test of marketability. The goods need not actually be sold in the market, but they must be capable of being bought and sold as such. The benches in question were fabricated for the assessee's own captive use in conveying moulds up to the platform stage. No evidence was produced by the department to show that the product was capable of sale in the market or had ordinary marketability. Mere use by the assessee did not establish that the item had the character of marketable goods.

Conclusion: The steel benches were not marketable goods and were not liable to central excise duty; the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Goods are exigible to central excise only if they are capable of being marketed, and captive use by the assessee does not by itself establish marketability.

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