TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2011 (7) TMI 869
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....t/Respondent Impugned Order No. & date 629/09 Sreeleathers 32 de novo dated 28-8-2009 630/09 H.S. Chatterjee Do 631/09 Satyabrata Dey Do 21/10 Sreeleathers Pvt. Ltd. 34 de novo dated 9-10-2009 22/10 H.S. Chatterjee Do 23/10 Satyabrata Dey Do 472/10 Sreeleathers 3 dated 29-1-2010 473/10 Sreeleathers Pvt. Ltd. 4 dated 29-1-2010 488/10 Sreeleathers (REVENUE APPEAL) 10 dated 12-3-2010 489/10 Sreeleathers Pvt. Ltd. (REVENUE APPEAL) 11 dated 12-3-2010 2. The relevant fact that arises for consideration in all these appeals is whether the assessee on affixing of bar code on the goods i.e footwear received from their suppliers, would amount to manufa....
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.... the MRP, and stamp MRP is put, at their individual units and they sold footwears to the noticee at negotiated prices. 3.2 It is his submission that, on reading the provisions of Section 2(f)(iii), it is very clear that the said section talks about the declaration to be made by the assessee. It is his submission that the activity of affixing bar code would amount to labelling and re-labelling and the declaration of the price on the boxes would amount to declaration made by the assessee in this case as the suppliers are not covered under either Central Excise Act or under SWMA or rules made thereunder. It is his submission that the adjudicating authority has decided only the last two impugned orders taking a contrary view. It is his ....
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....directs them to declare MRP and supply the footwear in packed conditions. It is also undisputed that when the goods are received by the appellant assessee, they do not do any further activity at all, i.e., packing or repacking of the goods or labelling or re-labelling of the footwear. The only activity undertaken by the appellant in their office is affixing a bar code sticker before the goods are delivered to various show rooms, shops or malls. 6. On this factual matrix, we find that the provisions of Section 2(f)(iii) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, reads as under : "2(f)(iii) which, in relation to the goods specified in the Third Schedule, involves packing or repacking of such goods in a unit container or labelling or re-label....
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....n products. It is also common knowledge that bar codes can be read only by optical scanners, called as bar code readers using special software. Affixation of bar code on the goods does not give any additional information to customers, as the said bar codes are only readable by machine. It is also on record that a bar code which is affixed by the appellant in this case is only representing the data which is already present on the card board box supplied by the supplier. It is also to be noted that in the absence of any bar code, the footwear in this case are marketable to the customer and as contended by the ld. Counsel, there are shops in the rural area which do not have bar code scanner and the said footwear are sold without scanning of th....
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....r, we find that the activity conducted in the premises, of this proprietary concern, would come under the mischief of the amended Section 2(f) of Central Excise Act, 1944 to call for levy of duty. (b) the reliance of the ld. Sr. Advocate on the case of C.C.E. v. Manisha International [2003 (152) E.L.T. 345] & Avon Beauty Products (India) P. Ltd. [2002 (83) ECC 522] & Panchsheel Soap Factory [2002 (145) E.L.T. 527], Lal International Pvt. Ltd. [2003 (154) E.L.T. 520] will not be of assistance in this case, this case is not only of such goods, wherein MRP simplicitor with bar code labels, logos were being placed. The position of packing in unit containers, being conducted herein from loose merchandise, was not the f....