ICI INDIA LIMITED Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these seven writ petitions common question is involved. Petitioners in these writ petitions are public limited companies. The only question posed for decision is at what point of time petitioners are liable to pay the excise duty while taking out the raw material for the manufacture of the explosives to the mine site or after the manufacture is made at the mine site and the vehicles are brought back to premises of factory from the mine site.

(2.) THE facts are taken from W. P. No. 4528/1993. Petitioners submit that they are dealing in the field of industrial explosives and allied technology. They are manufacturing explosives for nationalised coal fields for the purpose of blast. They are also manufacturing a wide range of products including paints, rubber chemicals, speciality chemicals, catalysts, pharmaceuticals, agro chemicals, seeds, etc.

(3.) IT is submitted by the petitioners that they have the unit at Singrauli, District Sidhi. The SMS plant has two components. Support plant and bulk mixing and delivery vehicles (commonly known as Pump trucks ). Internationally in order to increase the quality and potency of industrial explosives a new technology has been developed called bulk explosives. Initially in India Industrial Explosives was manufactured at plant site and delivered to consumers in packages. By a process of evolution and technological advancement an internationally acceptable system has been evolved called the bulk explosive system which means that from the support plant the raw material and components necessary to produce/manufacture explosive are carried in mechanically propelled vehicles to the mine site for production/manufacture into explosive at the bore notes. The manufacturing process takes place at the time of delivery at the mine site into bore holes.