No Duty On Intermediary Products

The Supreme Court last week quashed the showcause notices issued to Cadila Laboratories, demanding excise duties on intermediary products obtained while manufacturing various drugs.

The court said if goods were to be excisable, they should be new items produced through a manufacturing process and should also be marketable.

Goods in crude or unstable forms, which required processing before they could be marketed, would not attract the levy, even if they were listed in a schedule to the Central Excise Act.

The Bench comprising Justice S N Variava and Justice B N Agrawal overruled the Customs, Excise & Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal