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TMI Blog1984 (12) TMI 298X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n appeal filed before the Tribunal. 2. The respondents imported two consignments of Hypalon 40 at the Port of Calcutta. The Customs Authorities assessed the goods to basic customs duty Under heading No. 39.01/06 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (CTA 1975), and to additional (countervailing) duty of Customs corresponding to the excise duty leviable under Item No. 15A(1) of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (CET). The goods were treated for the purpose of classification under both the schedules as artificial resins or plastic materials. After clearance of the goods on payment of the duty so assessed, the respondents applied for refund of the excise duty allegedly collected in excess from th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on these considerations and its tentative view, the Central Government, in exercise of its powers under Section 131(3) of the Customs Act, 1962 (as it stood then), issued a notice F. No. 383/76/81-Cus. II, dated 7 9-1981 to the respondents calling upon them to show cause why the impugned order should not be set aside and the Assistant Collector s orders restored. 3. We have heard Shri A.S. Sundar Rajan, Departmental Representative for the department and Shri N. Das Gupta, Advocate for the Respondents. 4. Shri Sundar Rajan relied upon this Tribunal s Order No. 112/83 dated 12-4-1983 in Appeal No. 599/80-C filed by Elpro International Ltd., Pune in which it was held that Hypalon 45 was appropriately classifiable under Chapter 39 and not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 40 was vulcanisable with sulphur and that Hypalon 40 was an unsaturated substance though the degree of unsaturisation was low. Shri Dass Gupta contended that the product, therefore, satisfied the requirement laid down in Chapter 40 of the C.T.A. 1975. The onus to show that Hypalon 40 was a saturated substance and that the requirements of Chapter 40 were not satisfied lay on the department. The Deputy Chief Chemist s opinion was silent on the question of unsatura-tion whereas the respondent had produced the Indian Institute of Technology s opinion. On the issue of additional duty, it was stated that the import took place prior to the 1981 budget when synthetic rubber was defined in the Central Excise Tariff Schedule as in the Customs Tarif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sists discoloration or exposure to light, and is widely used in light-coloured vulcanizates. It can be compounded to give excellent mechanical properties - for example, high tensile strength and abrasion resistance. Several types and grades of Hypalon are available for a variety of end-use requirements. The Condensed Chemical Dictionary by Gessner G. Hawley (page 554 10th Edition) supports this. It states that Hypalon is a trade mark of Chlorosulfonated polyethylene, a synthetic rubber. It gives the uses for hypalon as insulation for wire and cable ; shoe soles and heels; automotive components, building products; coatings, flexible tubes and hoses, seals, gaskets, diaphragms. 9. The question, therefore, arises whether Hypalon 40 is cl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation results during the curing process. I.I.T., Kharagpur also says that unsaturation results during the vulcanization process. It is, thus, clear that Hypalon 40 is, as such and by itself, a saturated substance. Because of this it does not satisfy the primary condition in statutory Note 4 to Chapter 40, namely, that a product to be called Synthetic Rubber , it should be an unsaturated substance. In this view of the matter, it is not necessary to go into the question whether Hypalon 40 satisfies the other parameters set out in the statutory Note 4. 10. The result is that Hypalon 40 does not fall within the scope of heading No. 40.01/04 as a synthetic rubber. Having regard to its chemical composition and its properties it is a polymeris ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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