2004 (2) TMI 417 - AT - Central Excise

Summary

Issues: Classification of Cartridge Tape Drive under Central Excise Tariff Act

In this judgment by the Appellate Tribunal CESTAT, BANGALORE, the issue at hand was the classification of the Cartridge Tape Drive under the Central Excise Tariff Act. The appellants claimed it should be classified under Heading 84.71, while the Department argued it should be under 84.73.

The appellant's representative contended that the Cartridge Tape Drive is a machine transcribing data onto data media in a coded form, thus falling under Heading 84.71.

On the contrary, the respondent's representative stated that the appellant previously claimed the item as a unit of an Automatic Data Processing machine, a claim that had been rejected by the Tribunal and upheld by the Supreme Court. Therefore, the Department justified rejecting the current claim.

The appellant's representative further argued that for the relevant period, the item was claimed as a machine transcribing data onto data media in a coded form, making it classifiable under 84.71. He emphasized that there is no res judicata in the taxing statute regarding classification with the correct description for subsequent periods.

After considering both parties' submissions and noting that the adjudicating authority had not properly examined the issue, the Tribunal directed the authority to re-examine whether the item is indeed a machine transcribing data. The authority was instructed to pass an appropriate order after providing the appellant with an opportunity. All connected issues were kept open, and the appeal was disposed of accordingly.