Process of cold-rolling of hot-rolled stainless steel patta/patti amounts to manufacture-SC

Brief of the Case

In the case of M/S Gujarat Industries & Ors. Versus Commissioner Of Central Excise-I, Ahmedabad, it was held by Hon;ble Supreme Court that after the process of cold-rolling of hot-rolled stainless steel patta/patti, a new commercially identifiable commodity comes   into   existence and thus the said process amounts to manufacture.

Brief Facts

The assessee is engaged in the process of cold-rolling of hot-rolled stainless steel patta/patti on job work basis. As per the assessee, for this purpose, it   receives   hot-rolled   SS   patta/patti   from   other manufacturers and thereafter undertakes the process of cold-rolling in the cold-rolling mill. The purpose of cold-rolling is only to reduce the gauge of the SS patta/patti. After so reducing the gauge by the process of cold-rolling, the SS patta/patti are sent back to the suppliers.   For this purpose, the assessee receives job charges from the suppliers of the materials. The assessee claims that apart from cold-rolling, no other process was undertaken by the assessee on the SS patta/patti. The assessee had undertaken this activity during the period between November 1995 and March 1997. It is also the case of the assessee that by the process of cold-rolling, only the gauge of the SS patta/patti gets reduced and no new commercially identifiable commodity comes   into   existence,   and the appellants were under the bona fide belief that the process of cold-rolling does not amount to manufacture under the Central Excise Act and accordingly did not take out central excise registration and did not discharge any central excise duty liability.

After conducting some investigation, Commissioner of Central   Excise, Ahmedabad issued a show cause notice dated 15.05.2000 to the assessee contending that the process of cold-rolling undertaken by the assessee amounts to manufacture within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the Act and accordingly, the show cause notice sought to demand duty of Rs.24,06,310/- from the assessee for the period from 1995-96 to 1996-97 by invoking the extended period of limitation under proviso to Section 11A of the Act.

After considering the reply of the assessee, the Commissioner of Central Excise, Ahmedabad passed Order-in-Original confirming the duty demand of Rs.12,20,563/- after extending the benefit of small scale exemption and imposing penalty of Rs.12,32,563/- on the assessee. The Commissioner held the process of cold-rolling to be amounting to manufacture, in terms of Chapter Note 4 to Chapter 72. The Commissioner also imposed penalties on the suppliers of the materials.

On the appeals filed by the assessee and the suppliers of the cold rolled SS patta/patti, the Tribunal by a 2-1 majority held that the process of cold-rolling amounts to manufacture in view of Chapter Note 4 to Chapter 72. The majority of the Tribunal further held that the extended period of limitation under proviso to Section 11A of the Act is invokable and accordingly confirmed the duty demands and the penalties imposed by the Commissioner.

When the matter was taken in appeal before the Tribunal by the assessee, Judicial Member took the view favourable to the assessee whereas Technical Member affirmed the view of the Commissioner. The Technical Member in his brief order pointed out that the Commissioner had given detailed findings that the process of cold-rolling imparts quality of hardening to the products in question   and   this   process   entails   changes   in   the characteristics. The Judicial Member also passed a brief order holding that the case was covered by the judgment of this Court in Steel Strips Ltd. wherein it was held that cold-rolling of steel strips reduced out of the duty paid hot-rolled steel strips do not undergo a process of manufacture. The Judicial Member also observed that there was nothing on record to show that the mere passing of hot-rolled SS patta/pattis between

The two rollers, so as to reduce the thickness of the same, amounts to process of hardening or tempering being undertaken.

With this difference of opinion, when the matter came up before the Third Member, he undertook a very detailed discussion and ultimately concurred with the opinion of the Technical Member. Not only he relied upon the HSN explanatory notes which corresponds to the Chapter sub-heading of the Schedule to the Tariff Act but also took note of the entire process and discuss the same with reference to the technical literature.

Held by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India

The Hon’ble Court relied on the reasons and rationale given by the Third Member holding the entire process to be ‘manufacture’ within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the Act which is reproduced as follows:-

“5. In this context, the Harmonized System of Nomenclature known as HSN Explanatory Notes was referred to by both the sides.   These  notes correspond to the Chapter sub-headings of the Schedule to the Tariff Act. The HSN throw considerable light on the process of production in iron and steel industries. To begin with, in the present context, semi-finished products and in certain cases ingots are converted into finished products which are generally sub-divided into flat products (“wide flats” including universal plates, wide coil, sheets, plates and strip) and long products (bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly would coils, other bars and rods, angles, shapes, sections and wire). These products are obtained by plastic deformation, either hot, directly from ingots or semi-finished products (by hot-rolling, forging or hot-drawing); or cold, indirectly from hot finished products (by cold rolling, extrusion, wire, drawing, bright- drawing), followed in some cases by finishing operations (e.g., cold- finished bars obtained by centreless grinding or by precision turning).   In the category of hot plastic deformation, “hot- rolling” means rolling at a temperature between the point of rapid recrystallization and that of the beginning of fusion. The temperature range depends on various factors such as the composition of the steel. As a rule, the final temperature of the work-piece in hot-rolling is about 900ºC. In the category of cold plastic deformation, “cold-rolling” is carried out at ambient temperature, i.e., below the recrystallization temperature. Thus, the most   significant operational distinction between the hot-rolling and cold-rolling is that, hot-rolling is a rolling done at a temperature between the point of rapid recrystallization and that of the beginning of fusion, while cold rolling is carried out at ambient or room temperatures which is below the recrystallization temperature.

The cold-rolled strips have the following properties which may be shared by certain hot-rolled products:-

(a) because of the strain or work hardening they have undergone, cold- worked products are very hard and possess great tensile strength, though these properties may diminish appreciably with heat treatment;

(b) Elongation of fracture is very low in cold worked products; it is higher in products that have undergone suitable heat treatment.

Cold-rolling in the true sense also includes cold reduction changing the crystalline structure of the work-piece by considerably reducing its cross- section. The HSN Notes, therefore, clearly indicate that in the cold- rolling processes because of the strain or work hardening, the cold-worked product becomes very hard. Therefore, when hot-rolled strips, which are

flat-rolled products, are subjected to cold rolling, such cold-worked product would be very hard and would possess great tensile strength. The process of cold-rolling on such flat products would harden them and, therefore, it is a process of hardening. The fact that hardening can be achieved by heat treatment of steel cannot lead to a conclusion that no hardening can take place by cold-rolling.   Hardening or tempering of a matter by heat treatment does not negate the existence of process of hardening or tempering by cold-rolling. The reference to the literature on hardening or tempering from a ‘Dictionary of Metal Heat Treatment’, ‘Hand book of Heat Treatment Steels’, ‘Heat Treatment Principles and Techniques’, would give a lop sided picture of the concept of hardening or tempering.

If by heat treatment hardening or tempering of metal can be achieved, equally so by a cold-reducing or cold-rolling or cold-working, hardening of the flat rolled product/strips can be achieved.   Heat treatment for hardening or tempering may be suited for particular products while cold- rolling or cold-working may be suited for hardening or tempering other kinds of products.   Therefore, by merely referring to hardening   or tempering by process of heat treatment, one cannot shut out the entire cold- rolling or cold-working processes which bring about hardening or tempering. In the midst of technical literature produced on behalf of the appellant, there are certain excerpts from ‘Material Science and Metallurgy’, Chapter 57 of which deals with mechanical working processes. Mechanical working of metals may either by (I) Hot working, or (ii) Cold working. Plastic deformation of a metal above the recrystallization temperature, but below the melting or burning point is called hot working whereas plastic deformation of a metal below its recrystallization temperature is known as cold working. In that chapter, there is an analysis done on principles of hot and cold working of metals and their effects on mechanical properties. The purposes of hot working and its advantages as well as purposes and advantages of cold working are narrated. While stating the principles of hot and cold working, the very first distinction drawn is that in hot working, metal working is performed on a metal held at such a temperature that the metal does not work-harden, while in cold working it is stated that it is a plastic deformation of a metal which results in strain hardening. It usually involves working at ordinary (room) temperature, but for high melting point metals cold-working may be carried out at a red heat.   Hot working processes are: forging,   rolling,   pipe   welding, extrusion, spinning and hot piercing and rolling (tubes) etc., while cold rolling processes commonly employed are : rolling, extrusion, pressing and deep drawing, stamping, squeezing, bending, shearing etc.

Cold rolling is a process by which the sheet metal or strip is introduced between rollers and then compressed and squeezed.   The amount of strain introduced determines the hardness and other material properties of the finished product. Cold rolled sheet can be produced in various conditions such as skin-rolled, quarter hard, full hard depending on how much cold work has been performed. This cold working (hardness) is often called

Temper, although this has nothing to do with heat treatment temper.   Cold- rolled metal is given a “temper” rating based on the degree it was compressed. Temper is the state or a condition of a metal as to its hardness or toughness produced by either thermal treatment or   heat treatment and quench or cold working or a combination of same in order to bring the metal to its specified consistency.   As per Steel dictionary, cold rolling means rolling metal at a temperature below the softening point of the metal to create strain hardening (work-hardening). It is the same as cold reduction, except that the working method is limited to rolling. Cold rolling changes the mechanical properties of strip and produces certain useful combinations of hardness, strength, stiffness, ductility and other characteristics known as tempers.

It is not disputed that cold-rolled sheet products are used in a wide variety of end applications such as appliances-refrigerators, washers, dryers, and other small appliances, automobiles-exposed as   well   as unexposed parts, electric motors, and bathtubs. Cold-rolled sheet products are used in these and many other areas of manufacturing.   To meet the various   end   use   requirements,   cold-rolled   sheet   products   are metallurgically designed to provide specific attributes such as high formability, deep drawabiliity, high strength, high dent resistance, good magnetic properties, enamelability and paintability.   The primary feature of cold reduction is to reduce the thickness of hot-rolled coils into thinner thicknesses that are not generally attainable in the hot rolled state. Cold reduction operation induces very high strains (work hardening) into the sheet. Thus, the sheet not only becomes thinner, but also becomes much harder, less ductile, and very difficult to form. However, after the cold-reduced product is annealed (heated to high temperature), it becomes very soft and formable. Tempering is a form of cold rolling that gives the steel a precise amount of hardness on the outer surface of the steel.   Cold rolling is undertaken to reduce the thickness, improve the surface finish, and improve the thickness tolerances, to offer a range of tempers and as a preparation for surface coating.   Thus, cold-rolling process is also a process of hardening or tempering which is applied to flat rolled products, namely hot rolled strips so as to attract Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 72 of the Schedule to the Tariff Act. In the present case, there is no dispute over the fact that the appellant-assessee was undertaking cold-rolling process on its cold-rolling mills on the hot-rolled strips which were sent to it for the job work of reducing the gauge. The process of reducing the gauge by cold-rolling was also a process of hardening or tempering because cold-rolled products become hard and possess a very high tensile strength by the process of cold-rolling. The fact that a degree of hardness can be achieved will not dilute the applicability of the Chapter Note 4 because every degree of hardening or type of tempering resulting from cold-rolling of flat-rolled products would amount to manufacturing within the meaning of Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 72. The fact that annealing and pickling was done earlier by the party sending the goods for job work, will not make any difference because hardening or tempering of such flat-rolled products

Comes about only after cold-rolling. Having regard to the variety of flat-rolled products, which are cold-rolled, it cannot be said that the goods are not marketable. Admittedly, none of the parties sending the goods for job work to the appellant-assessee adopted the procedure of sending the goods for job work, as contemplated by Rule 57F of the Central Excise Rules, 1944 and, therefore, there can arise no question of the goods having been sent for job work under Rule 57F. It was not the case of any of these appellants that the goods were sent in accordance with the provisions of Rule 57F of the said Rules.

The other question raised in the appeals pertains to the extended period of limitation. The case set up by the assessee is that, in any case, there was no willful mis-declaration, mis-statement or suppression on the part of the assessee and, on the other hand, the facts gave rise to a bona fide belief that the process did not amount to manufacture and, therefore, show case notice dated 15.05.2000 was beyond the normal period of limitation and, thus, time barred. As pointed out above, the assessee had not been paying any excise duty on the aforesaid process as according to it, this process did not amount to manufacture and no excise duty was paid.   It is only on the basis of intelligence report that assessee was evading central excise duty that the matter came to the notice of the Revenue which led to the exercise of issuing of notice. It so happened that on the basis of intelligence, the Officers of Central Excise Department visited   and searched the said factory premises on 25.03.1999 in the presence of two independent panchas and Shri Rajnibhai Veljibhai Katharia, partner of assessee and seized certain records for which panchnama dated 25.03.1999 was prepared. Officers in the panchnama observed that the two housing of cold-rolling mills fitted with debapti and gearbox was found installed and their parts were not found in the said rolling mills. During the course of panchnama itself, it was stated by Shri Rajnibhai in presence of panchas:

(a)   That the said factory was engaged in the reduction of gauge (15 gauge to 20 gauge) of hot-rolled SS patta, received from various parties on two cold-rolling installed in the factory from November, 1995 to March, 1997;

(b) That hot-rolled SS pattas after annealing and picking process were received from various units in his factory and after reducing the gauge from (15 to 20 gauge) in his factory, the same was sent back to senders on job charges of Rs.1.50 per KG for the said process;

(c) That they closed the said two rolling mills in April, 1977 and sold out the parts other than housing, debapti and gearbox. Statements of the responsible persons for the said unit were recorded and after conducting some investigation, the Commissioner of Central Excise, issued the show cause notice dated 15.05.2000 to the assessee contending that the process of cold-rolling undertaken by the assessee amounts to the manufacture within the meaning of Section 2(f) of the Act.

Once, we keep the aforesaid facts in mind, it is difficult to accept that the assessee was under bona fide belief that excise duty was not payable and that it was not permissible for the Department to avail the larger period of limitation by invoking proviso to Section 11A of the Act.   All the Authorities below have rejected this argument of the assessee.   The Tribunal while upholding the view of the Commissioner agreed with the reasons given by the Commissioner in the following manner:

“The Commissioner has also for valid reasons held that the extended period of limitation was applicable and that the Department’s record did not show the receipt of any letter allegedly written on 28.09.1996.   The assessee, dealing with several similar manufacturing units who paid excise duty on identical processes, and doing job work on their behalf would have obviously known that excise registration was required for the cold rolling mills in its factory for the purpose of   manufacturing   cold-rolled pattas/pattis. The partner of the assessee was fully aware that such activity was dutiable, in view of the fact that four out of six units from which the goods were received by M/s. Gujarat Industries were paying duty on similar manufacturing activity.   Thus, the Commissioner is right in issuing the show cause notice by invoking the extended period of limitation and also holding that the assessee had connived and deliberately acted in a manner to defraud the Revenue. The Division Bench of this Tribunal in Indian Strips v. CCE, Ahmedabad 2004 (173) ELT 265 took note of the Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 72 for holding that cold rolling process on flat rolled product would amount to manufacture.   This decision was rendered after considering the decision of Hon. Supreme Court in Steel Strips Ltd. 1995 (77) ELT 248 (SC), which was rendered prior to the enactment of the said Chapter Note 4 which had the effect of including the process of hardening or tempering in relation to flat-rolled products in the definition of ‘manufacture’. The subsequent decision in Lalit Engineering Works v. CCE, Ahmedabad could not have taken a view contrary to the earlier binding decision in Indian Strips v. CCE, Aurangabad (supra) is required to be followed in a subsequent decision of the Division Bench. The assessee M/s. Gujarat Industries removed the goods without any cover of excise invoices and the other assessees received the cold-worked goods without cover of such excise invoices.”

In view of the above the appeal has been dismissed.