Judgment

B.P. JEEVAN REDDY, J.- The question raised in this batch of appeals is whether the prestressed cement concrete poles manufactured by the appellant, Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board, are goods within the meaning of Section 3 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. Section 3 levies duties of excise "on all excisable goods ... which are produced or manufactured in India". The expression excisable goods is defined in clause (d) of Section 2. At the relevant time, the definition ran thus - "excisable goods means goods specified in the Schedule to this Act as being subject to a duty of excise and includes salt". The expression goods is not defined. According to the learned counsel for the appellant, goods contemplated by Section 3 and Section 2(d) are those goods which are marketable and inasmuch as the poles manufactured by the appellant are not marketable, they are not goods. It is the correctness of the said submission which we have to examine.

2. The appellant-Electricity Board requires poles of different sizes, strength and dimensions for distributing electricity generated by it. The manufacture of these poles is actually done by the contractors under the direct sup