Ayurvedic product classification turns on recognised texts and common parlance, supporting patent and proprietary medicine treatment.

Products manufactured exclusively from ingredients found in recognised Ayurvedic texts and understood in common parlance as ayurvedic preparations are classifiable as patent and proprietary ayurvedic medicines under the Central Excise Tariff. The Tribunal applied the earlier settled view, already upheld by the Supreme Court, that such products fall within the Ayurvedic medicine entry where their ingredients are drawn from texts listed in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and their market identity is ayurvedic. On that basis, the Revenue's classification challenge failed and the assessee's classification was sustained.

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Issues: Whether the products in question were classifiable as patent and proprietary ayurvedic medicines under Heading 3003.39 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 or as goods falling under Heading 3003.10.

Analysis: The dispute turned on whether the products were manufactured from ingredients described in recognised Ayurvedic texts and were understood in common parlance as ayurvedic medicines. The Revenue did not dispute that the ingredients were taken from Ayurvedic text books specified in the First Schedule to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The classification issue was covered by the earlier Tribunal decision holding that products based exclusively on ingredients mentioned in ayurvedic text books and understood in common parlance are to be treated as ayurvedic medicines, and that view had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

Conclusion: The products were held to be patent and proprietary ayurvedic medicines, and the Revenue's challenge to their classification failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were rejected and the classification adopted by the Commissioner (Appeals) was sustained in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A product manufactured from ingredients exclusively found in recognised Ayurvedic texts and understood in common parlance as an ayurvedic preparation is classifiable as a patent and proprietary ayurvedic medicine.

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