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Issues: Interpretation of Tariff Item 24 for excise duty on articles of silver.
The judgment pertains to the interpretation of Tariff Item 24 for the levy of excise duty on articles of silver. The appellants had filed a classification list including various silver articles, and the main question was whether the term 'silver' in the entry should be limited to ingots, thereby affecting the exemption notification benefit for the appellants. The Tribunal initially held that 'silver' only refers to the metal itself, not articles made from silver. However, the Supreme Court disagreed with this narrow interpretation and opined that 'silver' in Tariff Item 24 should encompass all silver articles as understood commercially. The Court emphasized that if the articles are recognized as silver in the commercial world, they should attract duty under Tariff Item 24. Conversely, if they are not known as silver commercially, they may fall under a different category unless specified otherwise. Regarding a specific Civil Appeal (No. 1909/87), one member of the Tribunal suggested a broader interpretation of 'bimetal' to include various silver articles, emphasizing that the correct assessment should be under Tariff Item 24. However, since the Tribunal had already assessed the goods under Tariff Item 68, the appeal was rejected. The Supreme Court, after hearing arguments from both parties, disagreed with the narrow interpretation adopted by the Tribunal. The Court held that the term 'silver' in Tariff Item 24 should be broadly construed to cover all silver articles based on commercial understanding. Consequently, the Court remitted the matter back to the Tribunal with instructions to allow parties to present evidence on how the goods are perceived by those dealing with them commercially. The Tribunal was directed to decide the matter based on the evidence presented by the parties, with a reminder to expedite the proceedings due to the passage of time. Ultimately, the appeals were disposed of with no order as to costs.
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