Tariff classification of extruded rubber platen shell sustained under sub-heading 4009.99 where proposed basis and notice scope failed.

Tariff classification of an extruded rubber platen shell turned on the product's material composition and the scope of the show cause notice. The product was found to be manufactured from material of heading 4005.00, not heading 4008, so the factual basis for classifying it under sub-heading 4016.19 failed. Classification under sub-heading 4016.19 also could not be sustained because that entry was not specifically proposed in the notice. The classification under sub-heading 4009.99 was therefore maintained, and the assessee's position was upheld.

---

---

Issues: Whether the product "Extruded Rubber Platen Shell" was classifiable under sub-heading 4009.99 as a tube or under sub-heading 4016.99, and whether classification under sub-heading 4016.19 could be sustained when that classification was not the one proposed in the show cause notice.

Analysis: The product was found to be manufactured from material of heading 4005.00 and not from material of heading 4008. On that factual finding, the basis adopted in the show cause notice for classifying the product under sub-heading 4016.19 was displaced. The challenge to classification under sub-heading 4016.19 also failed because that was not the classification specifically proposed in the notice. In these circumstances, no ground existed to disturb the lower appellate authority's classification of the product under sub-heading 4009.99.

Conclusion: The product was not classifiable under sub-heading 4016.19 or 4016.99, and the classification under sub-heading 4009.99 was sustained in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue's challenge to the classification failed, and the assessee's classification position was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A tariff classification cannot be sustained on a basis not proposed in the show cause notice, and where the factual foundation for the proposed classification is absent, the original classification is liable to be upheld.

---