Narcotic as medicinal preparation: imported pethidine hydrochloride was held liable to additional customs duty.

Imported pethidine hydrochloride, though itself a narcotic, was treated as a medicinal preparation because a substance intended for treatment, mitigation or prevention of disease falls within that description. The expression "containing" in the charging entry was construed broadly to include a preparation consisting wholly of the narcotic itself, and the rule of strict construction of taxing statutes did not exclude it. The consignment was therefore held liable to additional duty under the customs law read with the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duty) Act, 1955.

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Issues: Whether imported pethidine hydrochloride, being a narcotic itself, constituted a medicinal preparation containing narcotic drug or narcotic so as to attract additional duty under the customs law read with the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duty) Act, 1955.

Analysis: The levy was treated as additional duty under Section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, the rate being linked to the excise duty leviable on a like article or, where no like article was produced in India, on the class or description of articles to which the imported article belonged. The definitions in Section 2(g) and Section 2(h) of the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duty) Act, 1955 were read together. A narcotic is a substance, and if it is intended for treatment, mitigation, or prevention of disease, it falls within the expression "medicinal preparation". The word "contain" in Item 1(iii) of the Schedule was construed in its ordinary sense as including "comprise", so a medicinal preparation may consist wholly of the narcotic itself. The rule of strict construction of taxing statutes did not justify excluding such an article from the schedule.

Conclusion: The imported consignment was held to be a medicinal preparation containing narcotic and was liable to the additional duty.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed on the merits because the imported narcotic was treated as falling within the charging description in the schedule, and the levy was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A narcotic substance intended for therapeutic use can itself be a medicinal preparation, and the expression "containing" in the charging entry is wide enough to include a preparation consisting wholly of that narcotic.

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