Cutting and Grooving ACP Panels Does Not Amount to Manufacture: SC

Alupro Building Systems Pvt. Ltd Vs Commissioner of Central Excise Bangalore-II (Supreme Court of India) The Supreme Court in examined whether the activities of cutting, grooving, routing, and fixing Aluminum Composite Panels (ACPs) on building facades amounted to “manufacture” under Section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and whether the Karnataka High Court had jurisdiction to decide the issue under Section 35G of the Act. The appellant, a construction contractor, imported pre-coated ACPs in standard sizes after paying customs duty. These ACPs consisted of aluminum sheets bonded to...