2006 (6) TMI 304

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....ue's contention is that the final product manufactured by the appellant viz. Tetracyclin and Streptomycin are bulk drugs which are wholly exempt from duty, therefore duty was payable on this intermediate product as 'Prepared Culture Media' arising during the course of manufacture of Tetracycline and/or Streptomycin bulk drugs at the assessees premises. 1.2 The assessee is contesting that the product sought to be levied duty under 38.21 is not covered under the heading and no evidence whatsoever has been produced by the Revenue regarding the marketability of the said product and also the product is not marketable at all as it has no shelf life. 1.3 The appellants are manufacturing Streptomycin and Tetracycline. The process of....

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....ired for medical purposes (e.g. for obtaining antibiotics) or for other scientific purposes or in industry (e.g. in the manufacture of vinegar, lactic acid, butyl alcohol) can find nourishment and multiply. They are usually prepared from meat extracts, fresh blood or blood serum, eggs, potatoes, alginates, agar-agar, peptone, gelatin, etc. and often contain additional ingredients such as glucose, glycerol, sodium chloride, sodium citrate or dyes. Acids, digestive ferments or alkalis may be added to bring them to the required degree of acidity or alkalinity, etc. There are also other media, e.g. mixtures of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium sulphate, potassium hydrogen sulphate, potassium aspartate and ammonium lactate in di....

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....lactose, or starch; a simple nitrogen source such as urea or ammonium sulfate, or a more complex nitrogen source such as soyabean meal, cornsteep liquor, or whey. In addition, various salts may be added to the fermentation medium. 1.8 In this view, the term "production media" is not a word coined by the assessee. This term is a well known one in the antibiotics/bulk drug field and is used in the technical books and therefore production media is different from 'prepared culture media.' 1.9 There is no material to bring evidence of the entity under dispute to be capable of the marketing or actually being marketed. The report relied upon in the order impugned to the effect that the ingredients of the cultured medium after mixin....