JUDGMENT

H.L. Dattu, J. —

ISSUE:

These appeals, which are at the instance of the Commissioner of Central Excise, raise a common issue, viz., whether the tarpaulin made-ups which are prepared after cutting and stitching the tarpaulin fabric and fixing the eye-lets would involve the process of manufacture and, hence, would fall within the definition of ‘manufacture’ ?

FACTS:

2) The issue above mentioned has come up in the light of the following facts which can be briefly stated as follows: we take M/s Tarpaulin International Civil Appeal No. 5341 of 2005 as the lead case. The noticee is carrying on the business of producing and selling ‘tarpaulin made-ups’. The ‘tarpaulin made-ups’ are nothing but the tarpaulin cloth which is prepared by making solution of wax, aluminum stearate and pigments which are mixed and the solution is heated in a vessel and transferred to a tank. Grey cotton canvas fabric is then dipped into this solution and passed through two rollers, where after the canvas is dried by exposure to atmosphere. Thereafter, the tarpaulin made-ups are prepared by cutting the cloth into various sizes and stitched and eye- lets are fitted. The noticee states that the process of mer