1996 (12) TMI 49

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..... s in a coil of continuous length and M.R. Grey in rolls. The Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal in the order under appeal upheld the findings of the authorities below that the said rings fell under Item 22F of the Central Excise Tariff which, so far as is relevant, reads thus : "22-F. Mineral fibres and yarn and manufactures therefrom, in or in relation to the manufacture of which any process is ordinarily carried on with the aid of power, the following, namely :- *** *** *** (2) asbestos fibre and yarn : *** *** ***" The Tribunal rejected the contention of the appelants that the said rings were intermediate products in the manufacture of brake linings and clutch facings, that they were brittle and fragile, and t .....

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..... said rings, which were shown to the Tribunal, arose after this stage. They were in a finished form. There was nothing elementary or crude about them. As asbestos products, they were fully manufactured. Nothing further was required to be done to make them fully manufactured asbestos products. The appellants' contention that the said rings were brittle and fragile articles and hence not marketable "was simply not true. We examined the sample of the rings very carefully. Asbestos fibre is a very strong material. If the ring is allowed to fall on the floor, nothing would happen to it. We found it neither brittle nor fragile. It was perfectly capable of being handled and transported for marketing". In so far as the aforementioned affidavits .....

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..... f the appellants, the appeal should, nonetheless, have been allowed. 4.It is not the function of the Tribunal to enter into the arena and make suppositions that are tantamount to the evidence that a party before it has failed to lead. Other than supposition, there is no material on record that suggests that a small scale or medium scale manufacturer of brake linings and clutch facings "would be interested in buying" the said rings or that they are marketable at all. As to the brittleness of the said rings, it was for the Revenue to demonstrate that the appellants' averment in this behalf was incorrect and not for the Tribunal to assess their brittleness for itself. Articles in question in an appeal are shown to the Tribunal to enable t .....

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