TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2000 (8) TMI 107
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.... in the facts and circumstances under consideration, the activity undertaken by M/s. Eureka Forbes Ltd. amounts to manufacture in view of Note 6 of Section XVI of the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff". 2. Circumstances which led to the reference to Larger Bench are as follows : Assessee, Eureka Forbes, buys from APIC, one of its subsidiaries, water filter-cum-purifier. Assessee purchases other accessories like prefilter bowl, prefilter candle, nozzles, nipples, prefilter clamp, gaskets, hose clip and nuts. These items are packed in one carton along with Aquaguard ST-2000 purchased from APIC. Aquaguard so purchased packed and marketed along with the abovementioned bought out items in a single carton is taken as an assessable commo....
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.... in the decision A.P. Industrial Components Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise - 1993 (68) E.L.T. 357. In that decision this Tribunal concluded that water filters simpliciter will only be eligible to the benefit of the notification and not apparatus/equipments which combine filtration with other methods of purification of water. Assessee took up the matter before the Supreme Court. Their Lordships dismissed the appeal as per decision in A.P. Industrial Components Ltd. v. CCE, Hyderabad - 2000 (115) E.L.T. 33 (S.C.) = 2000 (88) ECR 763. In that decision, Aquaguard was taken by Their Lordships as an apparatus which filter water and then treat the filtered water with ultraviolet radiation. So, it is rather preposterous on the part of the Reve....
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....ll amount to 'manufacture'." 6. Note 6 as far as relevant for our purpose states that in respect of goods covered by this Section conversion of an article which is incomplete or unfinished but having the essential character of the complete or finished article shall amount to manufacture. This show that conversion of an incomplete or unfinished into complete or finished article alone can amount to manufacture. If Aquaguard was complete in itself then this Note cannot have any application. 7.Learned Departmental Representative placed reliance on the brochure issued by the assessee. In the brochure Aquaguard ST 2000 is stated to have four major components. The first component is the Prefilter. The second is Activated Carbon Chamber. The ....
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....lumn then enters the right hand side chamber which is known as Ultraviolet chamber. Ultraviolet treatment of water while it passes through that chamber removes water borne diseases causing bacteria and viruses. That chamber is provided with an electronic monitoring system, namely, Sensor. If the sensor gets clogged by the suspended impurities in the water, the machine will automatically stop. In other words, ultraviolet chamber can purify water only if it is freed from suspended materials. This process of removal of suspended material takes place when the water is passed through the chamber filled with activated carbon. 8.Assessee got water purified by Aquaguard tested in three laboratories. All the three laboratories gave their findings....
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....ed reports go to show that Aquaguard without prefilter not only filters the water but also purifies it. It is a complete unit in itself as far as filtering and purification are concerned. To have its efficacy increased and to give a longer life time to the activated carbon column fixed on the left side of the equipment, the assessee canvasses for a prefilter to be added to it. What is the purpose served by the addition of prefilter? It is not to make any change in the filtering or purification of the water that is passed through Aquaguard but it is to minimise the strain on the activated carbon column. Prefilter is suggested for enhancing the utility of the activated carbon column. They take the characteristics of accessories. The meaning a....
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....atories referred to earlier have been described by the Bench which referred the issue to Larger Bench observing "These reports seem to us incomplete and purported". We are not in a position to endorse this view made by the Bench. When the Revenue took up the stand that Aquaguard cleared by APIC was not complete in itself, it was their bounden duty to adduce evidence to support this stand. They did not care to adduce any evidence in that regard. In such a situation, Revenue cannot be heard to contend that certificates produced by the assessee are incomplete or purported. In Hindustan Ferodo Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, Bombay, 1997 (89) E.L.T. 16 (S.C.) = (1997) 2 Supreme Court Cases 677, Their Lordships observed : "It is not the ....