Vip Industries Ltd Vs. Commissioner of Central Excise,

1. the application is for waiver of deposit of duty of rs. 31.99 lakhs approx and a penalty of rs 50,000/-.2. the applicant is engaged in the manufacture inter alia of luggage made of abs plastic. in the manufacture of such goods, offcuts and other remnant pieces of plastic sheets arise. the applicant sends these without payment of duty under the provisions of sub rule (4) or rule 57f to job workers for being crushed and return to it for use again in manufacture. the duty has been demanded, and penalty imposed on the ground that such remnants were not intermediate goods to which alone sub rule (4) of rule 57f applies, but waste and scrap more appropriately be cleared on payment of duty under sub rule (2) of rule 57f.3. the ratio of the decision of the larger bench of this tribunal in wyeth laboratories ltd vs cce 2000 (120) elt 219 holding that metal waste removed for remelting into ingots to be used in the factory where the waste was generated would be covered by both sub rules (2) and (4) of rule 57f, and it is the option of the manufacturer to avail of either of them, is in favour of the applicant. following this decision, the commissioner in a latter order has vacated a demand issued to the applicant.4. the departmental representative contends that the larger bench decision requires reconsideration on the ground that waste is an unintended product in the series of activities that leads to emergence of the manufacture of the commodity and cannot be considered to be a partially processed input. while we note this contention, we are at this stage bound by the decision of the larger bench.5. accordingly, we waive deposit of the duty and penalty, and stay their recovery.