9911796707
TMI Blog1988 (2) TMI 206X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent herein preferred a claim for refund of the additional duty paid by them on the ground that Myristic Acid was a fractionated Fatty Acid which should be classified and assessed under Heading 15.08/13 of the C.E.T. and that the same were exempted from payment of additional duty in terms of the Customs Notification No. 48/79, dated 1-3-1979. The Assistant Collector of Customs rejected the said refund claim of the respondent holding that the imported goods were classifiable as a chemical and not as Fatty Acid as claimed by the respondent. On appeal the Collector of Customs (Appeals), Bombay by his impugned order set aside the order of the Assistant Collector of Customs holding that the imported Myristic Acid being a Fatty Acid was correctly ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a separate chemically defined organic compound and in terms of Note 1(a) to Chapter 29, this will have to be classified under Chapter 29 only. In view of this fact, the correct classification of the imported Fatty Acid should be under the Heading 29.01/45(10) of the C.T.A. 1975, since it has 95% purity and therefore, the Assistant Collector rejecting the refund claim was right in his order. In reply, Shri Babu Iyer, Assistant Legal Manager of the respondent Company vehemently countered the arguments of the learned JDR that the classification whether under Chapter 15 or 29 is to be decided as per the purity of the Acid and cited the case of Collector of Customs, Bombay v. Hico Products Ltd. 1984 (18) E.L.T. 645. Shri Babu Iyer; Assistant Le ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... counter the same. Since the said technical opinion was not furnished to the respondent it has to be excluded from consideration as held by this Tribunal in the case of Steel Rolling Mills of Bengal Limited v. The Collector of Central Excise, Calcutta 1984 (16) E.L.T. 541. He also added that the Assistant Collector had relied upon the technical opinion given by the Deputy Chief Chemist which has been reproduced by the appellant in the memorandum of appeal under the heading brief facts of the case. From the said opinion as reproduced by the appellant, it would appear that the Deputy Chief Chemist proceeded on the basis that the classification under Chapter 15 or Chapter 29, is decided by the purity and since this criteria of purity stands, r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cludes mixed Industrial Fatty Acids, it follows that the Fatty Acids which are included in Heading 15.08/13 of the C.T.A. are Fatty Acids having purity less than 90% also cannot be accepted in view of the decision of this Tribunal rendered in the case of Hico Products Ltd., Supra. In that case it was held that C.C.N. explanatory notes have no legal force (though they may be of pursuasive value), and therefore classification has to be determined according to terms of headings of Custom Tariff Schedule read with Section and Chapter notes. From the impugned order we find that the Collector of Customs (Appeals), Bombay after referring to the literature concluded that since the imported products is nothing but Fatty Acid and it has been specific ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 8/13, since according to them, the imported product is nothing but Fatty Acid- and since Fatty Acid has been specifically mentioned under Heading 15.08/13, there was no scope for its assessment under Heading 29.01/45(1). During the course of the arguments nothing was pointed out to us for taking a contrary view. Thus, we agree with the Collector of Customs (Appeals), that the imported Myristic Acid is covered by Chapter 15 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. 6. Before we part with the case it will be significant to mention that while setting aside the adjudicated order passed by the Assistant Collector of Customs, the Collector of Customs (Appeals) had also given an additional reason allowing the benefit of Notification No. 48-Cus., date ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ant Collector has not put forward any reason as to why he had confirmed arbitrarily the assessment of the product to Custom duty earlier done in the Customs House under Heading 29.01/45(1) of C.T.A., 1975, even though the relevant literature embodying the export opinion on the imported product had been submitted to the concerned group in the Customs House. It is a patent case where the assessing authorities were not bothered to go through the literature on the product supplied by the importers to them and had resorted to the assessment of the product in a whimsical manner. 7. It is curious that the said additional reason has not been challenged by the appellants either in the memorandum of appeal or during the hearing of the appeal-befor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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