2018 (12) TMI 1172

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....ebruary 2009 under section 11A of Central Excise Act, 1944, along with applicable interest under section 11AB of Central Excise Act, 1944, by the original authority who had dropped proceedings for imposition of penalty under rule 25 and rule 26 of Central Excise Rules, 2002 and also accorded the benefit of availment of CENVAT credit of duty paid on inputs. 2. The appellant is a contract manufacturer of 'biscuits' for M/s Parle Products Pvt Ltd which are exempt from duty of central excise as per notification no. 3/2006-CE dated 1st March 2006 as amended by notification no. 22/2007-CE dated 3rd May 2007. An essential ingredient for production of 'biscuits' is the sweetener which is derived by dissolving 'sugar' in sufficient quantity of wa....

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....lly situated manufacturer had been granted relief from leviability to duty. Further contending that the first appellate authority had, erroneously and by placing reliance on circular no. 780/13/2004-CX dated 12th March 2004 of Central Board of Excise & Customs, disregarded their submission that the threshold of 'fructose' content specified in heading no. 170290 had not been fulfilled to warrant classification therein despite test report indicating the content. 4. Learned Authorised Representative cited the findings of the lower authorities that 'sugar syrup' is a marketable commodity and that the addition of 'citric acid' ensures adequate shelf-life to warrant the finding. Relying upon the decision of the Tribunal in The Maharashtra Agro....

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....an excisable good. The contention of the appellant that 'sugar syrup' produced by them does not meet these requirements, owing to less than adequate 'fructose' content, is backed by a test report which is not controverted by the lower authorities. 6. The lower authorities have discounted the relevance of 'fructose' content by a semantic analysis of the description in heading no. 170290 of First Schedule to Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 without any attempt to comprehend the role of 'sugar syrup' in the manufacture of biscuits and the process by, and purpose for, which 'sugar syrup' is produced. Consequently, the property of stability that is acquired by 'invert sugar' in contradistinction with 'sugar syrup' - which is a generic descript....