Central Excise Act 1944
2. Definitions: In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—
1[(a) "adjudicating authority" means any authority competent to pass any order or decision under this Act, but does not include the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act,1963 (54 of 1963), 2[Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals)] or Appellate Tribunal;
(aa) "Appellate Tribunal" means the Customs, Excise and 3*[Service Tax] Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);
4[(aaa) "broker" or "commission agent" means a person who in the ordinary course of business makes contracts for the sale or purchase of excisable goods for others;
5[(b) "Central Excise Officer" means the substituted [Principal Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Principal Commissioner of Central Excise] old [Chief Commissioner of Central Excise], Commissioner of Central Excise, Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals), Additional Commissioner of Central Excise, 6[Joint Commissioner of Central Excise], 7[Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise] or any other officer of the Central Excise Department, or any person (including an officer of the State Government) invested 8 by the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963) with any of the powers of a Central Excise Officer under this Act];
(c) "curing" includes wilting, drying, fermenting and any process for rendering an unmanufactured product fit for marketing or manufacture;
(d) "excisable goods" means goods specified in 20[the Fourth Schedule] old[9[10[the First Schedule and the Second Schedule] to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985] (5 of 1986)] as being subject to a duty of excise 11and includes salt;
19[Explanation.—
For the purposes of this clause, “goods” includes any article, material or substance which is capable of being bought and sold for a consideration and such goods shall be deemed to be marketable.]
(e) "factory" means any premises, including the precincts thereof, wherein or in any part of which excisable goods 21omit[other than salt] are manufactured, or wherein or in any part of which any manufacturing process connected with the production of these goods is being carried on or is ordinarily carried on;
12[(ee) "Fund" means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under section 12C];
13[(f) "manufacture" includes any
process,—
(i) incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product; and
(ii) which is specified in relation to any goods in, the Section or Chapter notes of 20[the Fourth Schedule] old[14[the First Schedule] to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985] (5 of 1986) as amounting to 15[manufacture; or]
16[(iii) *which in relation to the goods specified in the Third Schedule, involves packing or repacking of such goods in a unit container or labelling or re-labelling of containers including the declaration or alteration of retail sale price on it or adoption of any other treatment on the goods to render the product marketable to the consumer],
and the word "manufacturer" shall be construed accordingly and shall include not only a person who employs hired labour in the production or manufacture of excisable goods, but also any person who engages in their production or manufacture on his own account].
(ff)
”National Tax Tribunal” means the National Tax Tribunal established under
section 3 of the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005;
(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(h) "sale" and "purchase", with their grammatical variations and cognate expressions, mean any transfer of the possession of goods by one person to another in the ordinary course of trade or business for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration;
17[(i) Omitted]
17[(j) Omitted]
18[(jj) Omitted]
(k) "wholesale dealer" means a person who buys or sells excisable goods wholesale for the purpose of trade or manufacture, and includes a broker or commission agent who, in addition to making contracts for the sale or purchase of excisable goods for others, stocks such goods belonging to others as an agent for the purpose of sale.
* w.e.f. 14-5-2003
2. Substituted (w.e.f. 26-5-1995) by s. 70 of the Finance Act, 1995(22 of 1995).
3. Substituted (w.e.f. 14-5-2003) by s. 135 of the Finance Act, 2003 (32 of 2003).
4. Re-lettered by 5th schedule to Finance (No.2) Act, 1980 (44 of 1980) with effect from 11-10-1982 vide Notification G.S.R. No. 597 (E), dated 11-10-1982.
5. Substituted (w.e.f. 26-5-1995) by s. 71 of the Finance Act, 1995 (22 of 1995).
6. Inserted by s. 120 of the Finance Act, 1999 (27 of 1999).
7. Substituted by s. 119 of the Finance Act, 1999 (27 of 1999).
8. For Notification issued under this clause, see Notifications.
9. Substituted [with effect from 28-2-1986 vide M.F. (D.R.) Notification No. 10/86-C.E., dated 5-2-1986] by s. 4 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985(5 of 1986).
10. Substituted by s. 119 of the Finance Act, 1999 (27 of 1999).
11. The expressions “duty”, “duties”, “duty of excise” and “duties of excise” shall, save as otherwise expressly provided in Central Excise Act, 1944 and unless the context otherwise requires, be construed to include a reference to the special duty of excise specified in the Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.
12. Inserted [w.e.f. 20-9-1991] vide Notification No. 30/91-C.E.(N.T.), dated 19-9-1991] by s. 2 of the Central Excise and Customs Laws (Amendment) Act, 1991(40 of 1991).
13. Substituted [with effect from 28-2-1986 vide M.F. (D.R.) Notification No. 10/86, dated 5-2-1986] by s. 4 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985(5 of 1986).
14. Substituted by s. 120 of the Finance Act, 1999 (27 of 1999).
15. Substituted (w.e.f. 11-5-2002) by s. 132 of the Finance Act, 2002 (20 of 2002).
16. Substituted (w.e.f.1-3-2003) by s. 135 of the Finance Act, 2003 (32 of 2003)read with clause 127 of the Finance Bill, 2003(8 of 2003).
17. Omitted (w.e.f. 28-9-1996) by s. 72 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1996 (33 of 1996).
18. Clause (jj) was omitted by s. 11 and Sch. IV of the Finance Act, 1950 (25 of 1950).
19. Inserted vide Chapter IV of Finance Bill 2008-09
20.Substituted vide The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017
21.Omitted vide The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017
22. Refer vide Notification No. 02/2019-CE(N.T) dt.29/05/2019
23. Refer vide Notification No. 03/2019-CE(N.T) dt.18/07/2019
24. Refer vide Notification No. 01/2021-CE(N.T) dt.04/02/2021