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Central Excise Act, 1944 · Chapter I: Sections.

Section 2: Definitions

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—

[(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) [Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals) or Appellate Tribunal;]

(aa) "Appellate Tribunal" means the Customs, Excise and [Service Tax] Appellate Tribunal constituted under Section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);]

[(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;

[(b) "Central Excise Officer" means the [Principal Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Principal Commissioner of Central Excise], Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeals), Additional Commissioner of Central Excise, [Joint Commissioner of Central Excise,] [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 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 [the Fourth Schedule] as being subject to a duty of excise10 and includes salt;

[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 [* * *] 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;

[(ee) "Fund" means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under Section 12C;]

[(f) "manufacture" includes any process—

(i) incidental or ancillary to the completion of a manufactured product;

(ii) which is specified in relation to any goods in the Section or Chapter Notes of [the Fourth Schedule] as amounting to [manufacture ;or],

[(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 "manufacture" 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 (49 of 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;

(i) [* * *]

(j) [* * *]

(jj) [* * *]

(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.

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 2