Marketability is essential for excisability; carbide sludge treated as waste was not liable to central excise duty.

Carbide sludge was treated as waste arising in the course of manufacture and not as a commercially marketable product. The Tribunal applied its earlier finding that carbide sludge was not marketable in the ordinary sense, and held that marketability is a necessary element for excisability. As the product lacked marketability, it was not chargeable to central excise duty, and the appeal succeeded.

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Issues: Whether carbide sludge was marketable and therefore chargeable to central excise duty as an excisable commodity.

Analysis: The Tribunal held that the issue was already covered by its earlier decision in which carbide sludge had been found not to be marketable in its ordinary sense. Since marketability is a necessary element for excisability, a product that is not marketable does not attract central excise duty. On the record, the product was treated as a waste arising in the course of manufacture and not as a commercially marketable excisable product.

Conclusion: Carbide sludge was not chargeable to central excise duty and the appeal succeeded.

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