G. Sankaran, Vice President (T)

1. The facts of this case, briefly, stated, are that M/s. R.M.D.C. Press Pvt. Ltd., Bombay (hereinafter referred to as "R.M.D.C." for brevity's sake) were engaged, at the material time, in the manufacture of Printed Cartons and were paying excise duty thereon under item No. 68 of the First Schedule (hereinafter the 'CET') to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (hereinafter, the 'ACT'). However, it appears that they represented to the authorities that printed cartons were products of the printing industry and, as such, were eligible for exemption from duty in terms of Central Excise notification No. 122/75 which exempted inter alia "all products of the printing industry including newspapers and printed periodicals". The Assistant Collector rejected the representation of R.M.D.C. by an order dated 5.7.1978. By this order, he observed that he was not in a position to conclude that R.M.D.C.'s goods were identical to those manufactured by certain other parties in whose cases the appellate authority or the revision authority had found in the manufacturers' favour. He further held that the cartons were essentially meant for packing and any printing d