Deduction u/s 80IC - whether process of deriving the finished...

Deduction u/s 80IC - whether process of deriving the finished products amount to manufacture? - each of the respondents is paying excise duty, some of the respondents are job workers and the activity undertaken by them has been recognized by various Government Authorities as manufacture. To say that the activity will not amount to manufacture or production under Section 80IA will have disastrous consequences, particularly in view of the fact that the assessees in all the cases would plead that they were not liable to pay excise duty, sales tax etc. because the activity did not constitute manufacture. - AT