Satish Chandra, J. - (1.) These two special appeals raise common questions. The connected writ petition deals with an ancillary matter.
(2.) Special Appeal No. 307 of 1971 has been filed by the Union of India against the Union Carbide India Ltd. Special Appeal No. 429 of 1969 is by the Geep Flashlight Industries Ltd. against the Union of India and its Central Excise Authorities. Messrs. Union Carbide India tries Limited (hereafter called the companies) carry on the business of manufacture and sale of, inter alia, torches or flash lights. They purchase aluminium slugs and from them make "aluminium cans or torch bodies" in the course of manufacturing torches. These aluminium cans or torch bodies were subjected to excise duty under Entry 27 (e) of the Central Excise and salt Act, 1944 as "extruded shapes and sections including extruded pipes and tubes". The companies challenged this levy by instituting separate writ petitions in this Court.
(3.) In the writ petition filed by the Union Carbide India Ltd. three points were posed:- (1) The aluminium cans are not "goods" within the meaning of the Act and so no excise duty is leviable on them. (2) Entry 27 is confined to manufactured goods. No manufacturing process is involved in making the aluminium cans.- (3) Under Entry 27 (e) duty is payable ad valorem; since the aluminium cans are incapable of valuation, no duty can be levied.;