2025 (7) TMI 1000

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....o.1/2011 - CE dated 01.03.2011. 3. It appears that there was an investigation carried out by the Central Excise team and based on the outcome of investigation, a Show Cause Notice No.44/2014 dated 04.08.2014 for the period April 2013 to May 2014 was issued proposing to reject the bricks manufactured and cleared by the Assessee declared under sub-heading 6810 11 90 of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1994 and reclassify the same under sub-heading 6810 11 10 of Central Excise Tariff Act, thereby deny the benefit of Notification claimed, apart from demanding Excise Duty at 12% ad valorem apart from appropriate rate of interest and penalties. It appears from the SCN that the Commissioner issuing the same has relied upon various documents, referred to definition as appearing in various dictionaries, invoices raised in some cases by the Assessee, the declaration of the Assessee in its application for obtaining certificate of registration, batching report, lab test on AAC blocks test certificate issued by National Test House (SR), Government of India, Taramani, Chennai; lab test report issued by public Works department, Tamil Nadu, Comprehensive Strength Test Report issued by Head of the Depar....

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....these Appeals filed before us. 6. Heard Shri Raghavan Ramabadran, Ld. Advocate for the Appellant-Assessee and Shri M. Selvakumar, Ld. Assistant Commissioner for the Respondent-Revenue. 7. We have carefully considered the documents placed on record and we have also considered the judicial pronouncements relied upon before us. Having heard the rival contentions, the only issue that arises for our consideration is, "whether the goods manufactured by the Appellant is SLB or Concrete/Cement Brick?" 8. Shri Raghavan Ramabadran, Ld. Advocate took us through the process of manufacture of bricks in question. He would submit that the ingredients which are essential for manufacture of the bricks in question are mainly Sand [72.6%], Lime [5.8%], apart from Gypsum [2.6%] and Cement [10~13%] on weight basis, which is only added as additive/binder. Further, the proportion of Lime is relatively small but however, its role is very relevant. The most important step in the manufacture of SLB is the mixing of lime and sand which chemically react between themselves then adequate water is added to bring the materials to a consistency so that they react and hold together when moulded. This operation w....

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....are then hardened by means of steam in hardening chambers which are called autoclaves, besides pressing. The freshly pressed bricks are hard inside the autoclaves at temperatures in an atmosphere of saturated steam with pressure; the hydro-thermal hardening process takes several hours which provokes a Silicate reaction on the surface of the sand gains which stimulates the desired hardening process. 10. By drawing reference to the allegations in the Orders-in-Original, Shri Raghavan Ramabadran would draw our attention to the reply filed by the Appellant wherein they have meticulously replied/explained their stance and hence, the allegations in the Orders-in-Original are bereft of any evidence. With regard to the invoices relied upon by the Commissioner, our attention was drawn to the reply that majority of the invoices contain clearly AAC blocks (SLB) which is not at all considered by the Original Authority which, according to him contain the correct classification. He would further contend that in any case when tariff entry is used in a scientific or a technical sense, the words used to understand a product in common parlance or commercial parlance cannot be used to interpret the ....

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....ours under high pressure in horizontal autoclaves, at a temperature of around 140 C. These products, which may be white or artificially coloured are used for much the same purposes as ordinary bricks, tiles, etc., b) When lumps of quartz of various sizes are introduced into the mixture, artificial stone type products are obtained. Lightweight and porous sand-lime sheets for insulating purposes are also made by adding a metallic powder to the mixture, so that gases are given off; such sheets, however, are not pressure-moulded, but cast before insertion in the autoclave. 14. When the product contains Water, Sand and Lime, then as per the above, the same is required to be classified under 6810; as per Rule 2(b) of GRI of the Tariff Schedule, any reference in the heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixture or combination of that material or substance with other materials or substance. Applying this, it may be possible that the mixture of Sand & Lime requires classification as 'SLB' under sub-heading 68101190 and hence, the same may stand out of or would not fit into the classification as 'Cement bricks' for the reason that the product in quest....