REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 1689-1690 OF 2003

COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL

EXCISE, CHANDIGARH

— APPELLANT

VERSUS

M/S. SHITAL INTERNATIONAL — RESPONDENT

WITH

CIVIL APPEAL NO . 4541 OF 2005

COMMISSIONER OF

CENTRAL EXCISE,

CHANDIGARH

— APPELLANT

VERSUS

M/S. SHITAL

INTERNATIONAL

— RESPONDENT

J U D G M E N T

D.K. JAIN, J.:

1. These appeals filed by the Revenue under Section 35-

L(b) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (for short “the Act”) are

directed against the order and judgment dated 21

st

August

2002 passed by the Customs, Excise and Gold (Control)

Appellate Tribunal, (for short “CEGAT”), as it existed then,

1

and the order and judgment dated 8

th

November 2004

passed by the Custom, Excise and Service Tax Appellate

Tribunal (for short “CESTAT”), whereby both the CEGAT

and CESTAT rejected the claim of the Revenue and held

that the goods manufactured by the assessee were

“unprocessed knitted pile fabrics” classifiable under

chapter sub-heading 6001.12 of the Central Excise Tariff

Act, 1985 (for short “the Tariff Act”), attracting Nil rate of

duty.

2. Since the question of law arising for our consideration

in all the appeals is similar, these are disposed of by this

common judgment. However, for the purpose of

appreciating the controversy, a brief reference to the facts

in Civil Appeal Nos.1689-1690 of 2003, relating to the same

assessee, would be necessary. These are:

The assessee company is engaged in the manufacture

of knitted pile fabrics as well as knitted hosiery fabrics of

man-made fibres. Admittedly, till 30

th

September 2000, the

2

assessee was declaring the processed goods as dutiable and

was paying Excise duty on the same.

However, on 3

rd

October 2000, the assessee submitted

a revised declaration claiming that the goods manufactured

by it were subject to Nil rate of duty in terms of Notification

No. 06/2000-CE dated 1

st

March 2000 which came into

effect from 1

st

October 2000, forming part of General

Exemption No. 66, prescribing Nil rate of duty on

“unprocessed knitted or crocheted fabrics”, as also under

Notification Nos. 9/96 and 18/96.

On receipt of the revised declaration, a show cause

notice dated 12

th

December 2000 was issued to the

assessee, questioning as to why its stand be not rejected

and CENVAT @ 16% ad valorem with AED(ST) @ 8% and

AED (TTA) @ 15% of the Excise duty on the goods should

not be levied.

On 29

th

December 2000, the assessee replied to the

above show cause notice, denying liability on the ground

that the fabric was unprocessed. However, the claim of the

3

assessee did not find favour with the Deputy Commissioner,

Central Excise, Jalandhar who vide his Order-in-Original No.

222/20/Val/01 dated 29

th

June 2001, held:

“knitted pile fabrics of sub-heading 6001.12

being manufactured by the noticee be

treated as processed fabrics and

chargeable to cenvat @ 8% Adv., AED(ST)

@ 8% Adv. in terms of notification no.

17/2000 dated 01.03.2000.”

3.Being aggrieved by the said orders, the assessee

preferred an appeal before the Commissioner

(Appeals), Customs & Central Excise, Chandigarh.

4.The Commissioner (Appeals), upon consideration of the

processes undertaken by the assessee came to the

conclusion that these were not covered under Chapter

Note 4 to Chapter 60 of the Tariff Act as neither of the

processes of carding, knitting and shearing find

mention in the said Chapter Note nor these processes

can be covered under “any other process” mentioned

in the said Chapter Note. Placing reliance on the

decisions of the CEGAT as well as on the decision of

4

this Court in Mafatlal Fine Spinning And

Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Vs. Collector of Central

Excise, Bombay

1

, the Commissioner allowed the

appeal of the assessee.

5.Aggrieved by the said order, the Revenue preferred an

appeal before the CEGAT. As mentioned previously,

the CEGAT, vide impugned order, dismissed the

appeal. Relying on the decision of this Court in

Mafatlal (supra), the CEGAT held that operations of

shearing, cropping and back coating of the fabric

undertaken by the assessee did not amount to

processing of the fabric, as contemplated in the said

Chapter Note.

6.It would be expedient to mention that in C.A. No. 4541

of 2005 relating to the same assessee, the

Commissioner, vide Order-in-Original No.

69/CE/JAL/03 dated 30

th

July 2003, who had

adjudicated on the show cause notice dated 22

nd

June

1

(1989) 2 SCC 446: 1989 (40) ELT 218 (SC)

5

2001, after examining the processes carried out by the

respondents, had concluded that the knitted pile fabric

manufactured by the assessee was unprocessed and

therefore was exempt under Notifications No. 5/99 and

6/2000. In the ultimate analysis the Commissioner

observed thus:

“Thus, from the above discussion it is proved that

the noticee has supplied knitted pile fabrics as

well as knitted hosiery fabrics to the buyers sold

by raising commercial invoices and most of the

pile fabrics supplied by the noticee as knitted

fabrics were not having back coating and even if

process of back coating was conducted on some

quantity, the noticee have claimed that the drying

was done naturally. There is nothing on record to

controvert the claim that back coated pile fabrics

were not dried naturally or cannot be dried

naturally. Thus, I find that the show cause notice

itself does not contain any of the ingredients

required to substantiate the charge that the

processes undertaken by the noticee amounts to

manufacture in terms of Chapter Note 4 to

Chapter 60 of Central Excise Tariff Act 1985 so as

to attract Central Excise Duty.

In view of the above discussion, I hold that the

processes undertaken by the noticee in the

manufacture of pile fabrics sold as knitted fabrics

do not amount to manufacture in view of Hon’ble

Supreme Court judgment in Maharashtra Fur

Fabrics Ltd. reported as 2002 (145) ELT 287 (SC)

and the definition of processes as defined above

6

and therefore, the goods supplied by the noticee

were not dutiable under notification no.5/99-CE

dated 28.02.1999 and 6/2000-CE dated

01.03.2000 during the relevant period and

Central Excise duty amounting to `1,20,93,135/-

[BED `1,11,97,348 + `8,95,787] is not recoverable

under Section 11A of the Act and interest under

Section 11AB of the Act.”

Aggrieved by this order, the Revenue preferred an appeal

before the CESTAT, which was rejected vide the impugned

order.

7.Being dissatisfied by the said orders, the Revenue is

before us in these appeals. For the sake of

convenience, hereinafter, both the CEGAT and the

CESTAT will be referred to as “the Tribunal.”

8.Mr. B. Bhattacharya, learned Additional Solicitor

General, appearing for the revenue, contended that

since in the instant case, the fabric had been subjected

to processing in the form of shearing and electrifying

polishing, these processes amounted to “manufacture”

in terms of Chapter Note 4 to Chapter 60 of the Tariff

Act and hence it was not exempted from Excise duty.

7

Learned counsel argued that the decision of this Court

in Mafatlal (supra) was not applicable to the present

case, as initially the assessee was itself paying duty as

and when knitted pile fabric was cleared under Excise

invoices, treating the same as processed fabrics.

9.Per contra, Mr. V. Lakshmi Kumaran, learned counsel

appearing for the assessee, while supporting the

impugned order of the Tribunal, urged that Chapter

Note 4 of Chapter 60 of the Tariff Act refers only to

those processes which result in irreversible or lasting

change in the character of the fabric and, therefore,

since the processes of shearing and back-coating did

not bring about any change in the grey fabric, the said

processes do not fall within the ambit of the said

Chapter so as to attract Excise duty. To buttress the

argument that the processes carried out by the

assessee, namely shearing, back coating etc. are

integral processes for the manufacture of knitted pile

fabric and did not amount to manufacture of

“processed fabric” as contemplated under Chapter

8

Note 4 and, therefore, the assessee was entitled to

claim exemption under Notification No. 06/2000-CE,

learned counsel relied on the decisions of the Tribunal

in Maharashtra Fur Fabrics Ltd. Vs. Collector of

Central Excise, Bombay

2

and Versatile Enterprises

Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Collector of Central Excise, Meerut

3

.

10.It was strenuously contended that so far as the process

of shearing was concerned, the issue is no more res

integra in the light of the decision of this Court in

Mafatlal (supra) wherein it had been held that

shearing process did not have the effect of bringing

about any change in the grey fabric. According to the

learned counsel, in view of the concurrent findings of

fact recorded by both the authorities below, the test

enunciated in the said decision stands satisfied. It

was, thus, asserted that there being no permanent

change in the character of the fabric even when the

grey fabric is back-coated or sheared, the ratio of the

said decision is in all force to the facts in hand and,

2

1994 (71) E.L.T. 857 (Tri.-Del.)

3

2001 (130) E.L.T. 770 (Tri.-Del.)

9

therefore, the appeals deserve to be dismissed. In so

far as the question of process of electrifying polish was

concerned, learned counsel submitted that such a plea

was neither a part of the show cause notice nor was

raised by the Revenue either before the Commissioner

or Tribunal, the Revenue cannot be permitted to raise

such a plea at this stage.

11.Before embarking on an examination of the rival

submissions, it would be instructive to take note of the

tests laid in Mafatlal (supra), to determine whether a

process amounts to manufacture under the Excise Act.

In the said case, this Court had observed thus:-

“Any processing that can take a case out of

Rule 49-A(1)(b) must be a process which

renders cotton fabric ceases to be ‘grey

fabric’ as commercially known and

understood. The question whether

‘calendering’ and ‘shearing’, as actually

carried out by the appellant has had the

effect of taking the cotton fabric out of Rule

49-A(1) should be decided in the light of this

test.

20. In the present cases, the claim of the

appellant before the authorities that the

calendering process employed by them was

10

such as to give temporary finish by pressing

the fabric is not controverted. No lasting

change is brought about. There is no finding

to the contrary. Likewise the claim as to the

“shearing” which was only to trim

protruding, stray fibres from the fabric. If

these are the nature of the operations, the

‘grey’ fabric, in the facts of these cases, does

not become new and commercially different

commodity and cease to be ‘grey’ cloth.

There is thus no justification to take it out of

Rule 49-A(1)(b).”

12.Therefore, the questions arising for consideration are:

(i) whether the said processes undertaken by the

assessee amounted to “manufacture” in terms of Note

4 to Chapter 60 and/or (ii) whether the processes in

question introduce such a change in the nature of the

fabric that it ceases to be a grey fabric?

13.The relevant portion of Chapter 60 of the Tariff Act

along with the notes reads as follows:

“CHAPTER 60

KNITTED OR CROCHETED FABRICS

Notes:

1.This Chapter does not cover:

(a)crochet lace of heading No. 58.04;

11

(b)labels, badges or similar articles, knitted or

crocheted, of heading No. 58.07; or

(c)knitted or crocheted fabrics, impregnated, coated,

covered or laminated of Chapter 59. However,

knitted or crocheted pile fabrics, impregnated,

coated, covered or laminated, remain classified in

heading No. 60.01

2.This Chapter also includes fabrics made of metal

thread and of a kind used in apparel, as furnishing

fabrics or for similar purposes.

3.Throughout this Schedule, any reference to “knitted”

goods includes a reference to stitch-bonded goods in

which the chain stitches are formed of textile yarn.

4.In relation to products referred to in this Chapter,

bleaching, mercerising, dyeing, printing, water-

proofing, shrink-proofing, tentering, heat-setting,

crease-resistant, organdie processing or any other

process or any one or more of these processes shall

amount to ‘manufacture’.

Head-Sub- Description of goods Rate of

duty

ing heading

No. No. Basic

Additional

(1) (2) (3) (4)

(5)

60.01 Pile fabrics, including ‘Long pile’

fabrics

and terry fabrics, knitted or crocheted

- ‘Long pile’ fabrics:

6001.11- Of man-made fibres 16% 8%

6001.12- Of other textile materials16% 8%

6001.19- Of other textile materials16%

12

- Looped pile fabrics

6001.21- Of cotton 16% 8%

6001.22- Of man-made fibres 16% 8%

6001.29- Of other textile materials16%

- Other:

6001.91- Of cotton 16% 8%

6001.92- Of man-made fibres 16% 8%

6001.99- Of other textile materials16%”

14.There is no dispute that knitted pile fabrics are to be

classified under heading No. 60.01 of the Tariff Act. The

issue is whether the processes of shearing and back-coating

which do not figure in Chapter Note 4 to Chapter 60 of the

Tariff Act, would fall within the ambit of “any other process”

referred to in the said note. It is well settled that general

terms following particular expressions take their colour and

meaning as that of the preceding expressions, applying the

principle of ejusdem generis rule, therefore, in construing

the words “or any other process”, the import of the specific

expressions will have to be kept in mind. (See: Collector of

Central Excise, Bombay Vs. Maharashtra Fur Fabrics

13

Ltd.

4

). Therefore, the processes, with which we are

concerned in the present appeals must take their colour

from the process of bleaching, dyeing, printing, shrink-

proofing, tentering, heat-setting, crease-resistant

processing, specifically mentioned in the note. It is evident

that when a grey fabric is subjected to any of these

processes, a permanent or lasting change is brought about

in the fabric. Whereas, in the present case, both the

appellate authorities below have found that neither

shearing nor back-coating brings about any permanent or

lasting change in the knitted pile fabric manufactured by

the assessee by carding and knitting. In this regard, it

would be useful to advert to the observations made by this

Court in Commissioner of Central Excise, Hyderabad-I

Vs. Charminar Non-Wovens Limited,

5

wherein it was

held that:-

“Such concurrent findings by the lower

authorities are interfered with by this Court in

exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 35-L

of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 only

when such findings are patently perverse or

4

(2002) 7 SCC 444

5

(2009) 10 SCC 770

14

are based on manifest misreading of any legal

provision. Here none of these situations is

present. Reference in this connection may be

made to the decision of Sidharath

Pharmaceuticals v. CCE

6

. In that judgment, the

learned Judges of this Court held that with the

concurrent finding of facts reached by the

lower authorities in classification on the basis

of evidence and on analysis of relevant legal

provision interference is not called for by this

Court in exercise of its power under Section 35-

L of the Central Excise Act, 1944.”

15.In the declaration submitted by the assessee, the said

processes are described as follows:-

“a. Carding: Firstly, the fibre/synthetic

waste/mixed fibre and waste is fed into the

carding machine which opens the compressed

material and after loosening the same, sliver is

made.

b. Knitting: Thereafter, the carded sliver plus yarn

is inserted into the loops of the circular knitting

machines and the fabric is made.

c. Shearing: The next process is on the back-

coating machine where the cloth is sheared,

polished and the pile is kept to the required level.

d. Back-coating: The final process is on the back

coating machine where the back coating is done

and fur is ready. Then, it is measured on semi-

automatic measuring table and the rolls are made

6

(2009) 16 SCC 561

15

which are ready for show in the Excise Bond room

and for sale.”

In this background, we find it difficult to hold that the

processes of shearing or back-coating are of the same

nature as other processes mentioned in the said chapter

Note and therefore, would fall within the scope and ambit of

“any other process.”

16.Adverting to the second issue, noted supra, the

Revenue has not controverted the afore-stated factual

position, nor has it adduced any evidence to suggest that

the processes mentioned in the afore-extracted declaration

induce some permanent change in the “grey fabric”. A bare

perusal of the nature of the processes, explained in the said

declaration reveals that the processes mentioned therein do

not have the effect of changing the “grey fabric” into

another commodity or bring about a permanent or lasting

change in the fabric so as to bring out a new product,

tantamounting to manufacture in terms of Chapter Note 4

to Chapter 60 of the Tariff Act. Support is also lent to this

16

view by the decision of this Court in Mafatlal’s case

(supra).

17.As regards the process of electrifying polish, now

pressed into service by the revenue, it is trite law that

unless the foundation of the case is laid in the show cause

notice, the revenue cannot be permitted to build up a new

case against the assessee. (See: Commissioner of

Customs, Mumbai Vs. Toyo Engineering India Ltd.

7

;

Commissioner of Central Excise, Nagpur Vs. Ballarpur

Industries Ltd.

8

and Commissioner of Central Excise,

Bhubaneshwar-I Vs. Champdany Industries Limited

9

).

Admittedly, in the instant case, no such objection was raised

by the adjudicating authority in the show cause notice dated

22

nd

June 2001 relating to the assessment year 1988-89 to

2000-01. However, in the show cause notice dated 12

th

December 2000, the process of electrifying polish finds a

brief mention. Therefore, in light of the settled legal

position, the plea of the learned counsel for the revenue in

7

(2006) 7 SCC 592

8

(2007) 8 SCC 89

9

(2009) 9 SCC 466

17

that behalf cannot be entertained as the revenue cannot be

allowed to raise a fresh plea, which has not been raised in

the Show Cause notice nor can it be allowed to take

contradictory stands in relation to the same assessee.

18.In light of the foregoing discussion, we are in

agreement with the Tribunal that the said processes do not

amount to “manufacture” in terms of Note 4 of Chapter 60

of the Tariff Act, and hence the fabric in question is

“unprocessed knitted fabric” falling under Sr. No.165 of the

exemption notification No. 06/2000 dated 1

st

March 2000,

attracting Nil rate of duty as also under notification Nos.

5/99, 9/96 and 18/96. These appeals are bereft of any merit

and are, therefore, dismissed accordingly, leaving the

parties to bear their own costs.

.……………………………………J.

(D.K. JAIN)

.…………………………………….J.

(C.K. PRASAD)

18

NEW DELHI;

OCTOBER 22, 2010

19