Brief case: What is marketable is dutiable, says SC

Brief case is a weekly selection of key court orders

Perfumery compounds prepared for applying to incense sticks are subject to excise duty, though the final product, agarbattis, may be exempted, the Supreme Court (SC) has said. This is because the compound is capable of being sold as is and it wasn’t necessary to prove that the compound was indeed sold; “marketability is the test of dutiability”, the Supreme Court stated in its judgment, Commissioner of Central Excise vs Karnataka Soaps & Detergents. The court set aside the decision of the Excise Appellate Tribunal, which held the opposite view. In this case, the firm manufactured odoriferous compound in Bengaluru and