Methane gas and the new definition of manufacture

EXPERT EYE

The general principle enunciated is that an article does not become excisable merely because of its specific inclusion in the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act unless it is salable and known to the market. The whole problem is that this sort of issue on different articles keeps on coming to the Supreme Court again and again. This time it is the Methane gas.

In the process of manufacture of de-natured Ethyl Alcohol a residue known as spent wash comes into existence, which is reacted in a closed type digester and Methane gas is produced, which in turn is used as fuel in distillery.

The manufacturer claimed that the Methane gas is not marketable and therefore not excisable Revenue could not prove either that Methane gas was saleable or known to the market. So the Supreme Court ruled in this case that this article does not become excisable merely because of its entry in the Tariff in 27112900.

This latest judgement is a reiteration of its previous judgements in several cases. The most well known judgement on this issue is that in Bhor Industries vs. Collector