Ojha, J. - (1.) This appeal under section 35L of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) has been preferred against the order dated June 28, 1988 of the Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi. The appellant carries on the business of manufacture and sale of paper. On the plea that in the manufacture of paper the appellant uses paper cores, exemption from payment of excise on such paper cores was claimed by it on the basis of a Notification No. 201/79 dated June 4, 1979 as amended by Notification No. 105/82 dated February 28, 1982 (hereinafter referred to as the Notification). The Assistant Collector, Central Excise rejected the claim of the appellant but its claim on appeal as regards exemption from duty on paper cores was allowed by the Appellate Collector. Aggrieved by that order the Collector of Central Excise, Meerut, preferred the appeal in which the order which is the subject-matter of the present appeal was passed.
(2.) The Notification on the basis of which was claimed by the appellant inter alia provides: "the Central Government hereby exempts all excisable goods (hereinafter referred as "the said goods"), on which the duty of excise is leviable and in the manufacture of which any goods falling under Item No. 68 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) have been used, as raw materials or component parts (hereinafter referred as "the inputs"), from so much of the duty of excise leviable thereon as is equivalent to the duty of excise already paid on the inputs."
(3.) As is apparent even from the order of the Tribunal the details of the use of paper cores in the manufacture of paper as set out by the appellant on the basis whereof the exemption was claimed by it read as hereunder:- "Paper cores:Paper cores are used in paper mill on re-winding and cutting machines. The full width of paper manufactured on paper machine is cut in different sizes of reel and sheets according to customer's requirement. To cut the parent roll of paper manufactured on paper machine which is wound on steel-shell into small reels suitable for cutter machine, the paper is re-wound on 'paper cores' fitted on a shaft on re-winding machine. The reels thus re-winded on paper cores can be easily cut into sheets on cutter machine into required size or sent to customers as reels as such, there is no other use of paper cores except their use in re-winding and cutting machine in paper Mills". On the basis of the details aforesaid the case of the appellant was that the paper cores constituted "component parts" within the meaning of the Notification entitling it to the exemption granted by the said Notification. The case of the respondent on the other hand was that paper cores were really used by the appellant as packing material after the paper had already been manufactured, for taking it to the market and did not constitute component parts of paper. Before dealing with respective submissions made by learned counsel for the parties it may be pointed out that it is not in dispute that the excise duty was payable at the relevant time separately both on paper and paper core under different tariff items of the First Schedule to the Act and it has also not been disputed by the respondent that if paper core fell under the term "component parts", the appellant would be entitled to the exemption as claimed by it and contemplated by the Notification. The short question which, therefore, arises for consideration in the instant appeal is whether paper core is used in the manufacture of paper as component part. Even though the term "component parts" has not been defined either by the Act or by the Notification the term "manufacture" has been defined in section 2(f) of the Act. This definition inter alia contemplates that "manufacture" includes any process, incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product. Section 3 of the Act which is the charging section contemplates levy and collection of duty of excise on all "excisable goods". The First Schedule to the Act specifies the excisable goods under various tariff items. In the absence of any definition of the term "component parts" it is permissible to refer to the dictionary meaning of the word "component". According to the Webster Comprehensive Dictionary, International Edition the word "component" inter alia means a constituent part. The term "manufacture", as already indicated above, according to its definition in the Act includes any process incidental or ancillary to the completion of manufactured product. In this context what has to be considered is whether in the manufacture of paper, paper core is used as a constituent part and is necessary to be used in "any process incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product" namely paper in the instant case.;