Wind mill batteries not treated as exempt parts when they serve only as storage aids; wooden battery racks classified as articles of wood.

Electric storage batteries used to store wind-generated electricity were not treated as parts of wind mills for exemption under Notification No. 205/88-C.E., because they functioned only as a storage aid and were not an essential or invariable component of every wind mill. The claim to exemption therefore failed. Wooden stands or racks used to place the batteries higher and insulate them from the ground were not classifiable as furniture under Heading 94.03; they were properly classified as articles of wood under Heading 44.10 because their function was limited to support and insulation.

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Issues: (i) Whether electric storage batteries used for storing energy generated by wind mills were entitled to exemption as parts of wind mills under Notification No. 205/88-C.E. dated 25-5-88. (ii) Whether wooden stands or racks used for placing the batteries were classifiable as furniture under Heading 94.03 or as articles of wood under Heading 44.10.

Issue (i): Whether electric storage batteries used for storing energy generated by wind mills were entitled to exemption as parts of wind mills under Notification No. 205/88-C.E. dated 25-5-88.

Analysis: The exemption covered wind mills, parts of wind mills and specially designed devices which run on wind mills. The batteries were used only to store electricity generated by the wind mills and were not invariably required for all wind mills. Since a battery was only a means of storage and not an essential or integral component of every wind mill, it could not be treated as a part of wind mill for the purpose of the notification.

Conclusion: The batteries were not entitled to exemption under Notification No. 205/88-C.E.

Issue (ii): Whether wooden stands or racks used for placing the batteries were classifiable as furniture under Heading 94.03 or as articles of wood under Heading 44.10.

Analysis: The stands or racks served only to keep the batteries at a higher level and to provide insulation from the ground. They were not furniture items and their proper classification was as articles of wood.

Conclusion: The wooden stands or racks were classifiable as articles of wood under Heading 44.10.

Final Conclusion: The exemption claim failed for the batteries, while the classification adopted for the wooden stands or racks was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A product used only as a contingent aid to another machine, and not as an integral or invariable component of it, is not a part of that machine for the purpose of exemption; items serving merely as supports or insulation are classifiable by their own character and use.

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