Manufacture test under central excise: sterilising and packing feeder bottle parts did not create a new excisable commodity.

Packing sterilised constituent parts of a feeder bottle after purchase did not amount to manufacture under the Central Excise law because the process did not bring into existence a new and commercially distinct article with a separate character, name or use. The parts had already been manufactured as separate items, and sterilisation was treated only as a hygiene-related step, not a process that completed manufacture. As no manufacture was found, questions of classification and exemption did not survive for decision, and the activity was held not excisable as a manufactured product.

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Issues: Whether packing of the constituent parts of a feeder bottle after sterilization amounted to manufacture under Section 2(f) of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, and whether the product was therefore classifiable and eligible for exemption.

Analysis: The activity consisted of purchasing already manufactured parts, sterilizing them and placing them together in a combined pack for sale. The essential test applied was whether the process brought into existence a new article having a distinct character, name and use, or amounted to an assembly or process incidental or ancillary to completion of a manufactured product. On the facts found, the parts had already come into existence as separate items and the process did not create a commercially different commodity. Sterilization was treated as only a hygiene-related step and not a process that itself completed manufacture. As no manufacture was found, the questions of classification and exemption did not survive for decision.

Conclusion: The activity did not amount to manufacture, and the appeals were entitled to succeed.

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