ENGINEERING TOOLING EQUIPMENTS Vs. CCE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE application for condonation of supplementary appeals and stay petitions was allowed. Supplementary appeals and stay petitions were taken on record.

(2.) AFTER hearing Shri V.S. Sejpal, C.A. for the applicants and Shri A.K. Chatterjee for the Revenue on the stay applications, it appeared that at this stage itself the matters could be taken up for disposal. By way of supplementary cause list the main appeal E/3663 -RV/98 -Bom was also listed and following four appeals were taken up for disposal, i.e. E/1280 and 1281 -RV/99 -Bom and E/3662 and 3663 -w"no Bom.

(3.) THE appellants classified the product titled as "core barrels complete" under sub -heading 8430.00. The Assistant Commissioner examined the description of the products and issued the show cause notice to the assessees as to why the products not be classified under heading 8431.00 since the activity of threading, joining, coupling had been undertaken on the pipes and tubes which activities were processes of manufacturer in terms of Section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Before the Assistant Commissioner the assessees claimed that the activity of threading pipes and tubes at the end either internally or externally did not amount to manufacture. The Assistant Commissioner held that such activity converted pipes and tubes into articles known separately in the market. He referred to and relied upon a circular of the Board in which steel tubes converted into oxygen lancing pipes were held to be newly manufactured products. He classified the goods under sub -heading 8431.00 and confirmed the differential duty in the other three orders. The Commissioner (Appeals) upheld the four orders. In doing so, he held that where the only process conducted was threading the goods, the goods would remain classifiable as pipes and tubes. In other cases they would merit classification under sub -heading 8431.00. He further held that with the evidence on record no reason existed to interfere with the four orders.