G. Sankaran, President

1. By the impugned order, the Additional Collector of Central Excise, Faridabad, demanded excise duty amounting to Rs. 4,15,387.35 from the appellant under Section 11A of the Central Excises & Salt Act, 1944 (the 'Schedule', for short) on Plaster of Paris manufactured by them and captively used in the manufacture of plaster of paris moulds. The basis of the order was that -

(a) Plaster of Paris moulds are "goods". The contention that they are not marketable goods is not acceptable. The moulds are not crude as is evident from the fact that the sanitaryware manufactured with their help are precise in their shapes and sizes. The moulds can certainly be bought by anyone who requires them.

(b) The contention that sanitaryware is the final product for the input plaster of paris is untenable since the latter is used only in the manufacture of moulds which, in turn, are used captively for the manufacture of sanitaryware. The moulds are in the nature of equipment/apparatus/tools which are, themselves, final products falling under Heading No. 6807.00 of the Schedule. Plaster of paris is the input for moulds, not sanitaryware. Hence the benefit of Notification No.