Excisability and manufacture of aluminium composite panels failed where site-specific cutting did not create distinct marketable goods.

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....Section 35G excludes High Court jurisdiction where the question has a direct and proximate relation to the rate of duty, and excisability is part of that assessment; Section 35L therefore provides the proper forum, and the later insertion of Section 35L(2) was held clarificatory and retrospective. On merits, cutting, grooving, routing and fixing aluminium composite panels for site-specific installation did not amount to manufacture because the panels retained their essential identity, character and end use. Marketability is an independent requirement for excisability and must be proved by objective material, but it became irrelevant once no distinct goods emerged. The appeal was allowed and excise duty was held not attracted.....