Ayurvedic medicament classification upheld where a skin cream was used for therapeutic treatment and not shown to be a cosmetic.

Wanish skin cream/lotion was treated as an ayurvedic medicament under Chapter 30 because it was manufactured from ingredients mentioned in ayurvedic texts, sold through medical or chemist shops, and prescribed for treatment of pregnancy stretch marks and scars. The Commissioner (Appeals) had recorded these facts, and they were not rebutted by the Revenue. Applying the common parlance or popular meaning test, the CESTAT noted that the Revenue failed to show the product was known in trade as a cosmetic. The product was therefore correctly classified as an ayurvedic medicine and not as a cosmetic, and the Revenue's appeal failed.

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Issues: Whether wanish skin cream/lotion was classifiable as an ayurvedic medicament under Chapter 30 of the Central Excise Tariff or as a cosmetic.

Analysis: The product was shown to be manufactured from ingredients mentioned in ayurvedic texts and to be sold through medical or chemist shops on prescription for treatment of pregnancy stretch marks and scars. That factual finding, recorded by the Commissioner (Appeals), was not rebutted by the Revenue. The Revenue did not produce evidence to establish that the product was known in trade as a cosmetic. The decision relied on the common parlance or popular meaning test and applied the principle that a product used for a specific therapeutic purpose is classifiable as a medicament.

Conclusion: The product was correctly treated as an ayurvedic medicine under Chapter 30 and not as a cosmetic, and the Revenue's appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A product intended and used for a specific therapeutic purpose, and not shown to be known in trade as a cosmetic, is classifiable as a medicament under Chapter 30 on the common parlance or popular meaning test.

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