Compressed carbon dioxide classification turns on cylinder compression, not mere pipe-line movement under pressure.

Fermentation gas containing over 99% carbon dioxide was not classifiable as compressed carbon dioxide under item 14-H of the First Schedule because the expression "compressed gas" was used in the commercial and technical sense of gas compressed into cylinders or similar containers at prescribed pressure for storage, handling and transport. Gas merely conveyed through pipe-lines under pressure did not meet that description. The fact that the gas was substantially carbon dioxide, or possibly sub-standard, did not alter its character; what mattered was the absence of compression in the relevant sense. On that basis, the gas fell outside item 14-H and was not liable to duty under that entry.

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Issues: Whether fermentation gas containing over 99% carbon dioxide, but conveyed through pipe-lines and not filled in cylinders at the prescribed pressures, fell within item 14-H of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 as compressed carbon dioxide.

Analysis: The tariff entry, as it stood prior to amendment, covered only compressed carbon dioxide in gaseous form. The expression "compressed gas" was understood in the commercial and technical sense of gas compressed into cylinders or special tanks for storage, handling and transport, not gas merely moving under pressure through pipe-lines. The applicable standards and the Gas Cylinder Rules, 1940 showed that compressed CO2 was associated with cylinder filling, specified pressure levels and regulated handling. The fermentation gas, though usable and substantially CO2, was not shown to have been compressed in that sense. The fact that it may be sub-standard or off-standard did not change its character, but the absence of compression in the relevant sense took it outside item 14-H. The reasoning was reinforced by the earlier Supreme Court and Tribunal authorities on the meaning of compressed carbon dioxide and on classification according to the condition of the goods at the relevant stage.

Conclusion: The fermentation gas was not compressed carbon dioxide within item 14-H and was not liable to duty under that entry.

Ratio Decidendi: For tariff classification under item 14-H, carbon dioxide is dutiable as compressed gas only when it is compressed in the commercially accepted sense, namely into cylinders or similar containers at the relevant prescribed pressure, and mere movement of gas through pipe-lines under pressure does not satisfy that description.

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