Broad tariff classification of iron ores and concentrates includes iron ore pellets, making them liable to export duty.

Heading No. 11 in the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 was construed broadly, because the phrase "iron ores and concentrates, all sorts" covered all relevant sub-classifications of Heading 2601 in the First Schedule. Iron ore pellets were treated as an agglomerated form of iron ore within that genus, rather than a distinct commodity outside the export entry. The tariff structure, the corresponding treatment of iron ore fines, and Notification No. 62/2007-Cus supported inclusion of pellets in the export duty entry. The earlier contractual ruling concerning the Port Trust was held irrelevant, and the affidavits filed by the assessee were rejected as unreliable.

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Issues: Whether iron ore pellets exported by the assessee were classifiable as "iron ores and concentrates, all sorts" under Heading No. 11 of the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and thus chargeable to export duty.

Analysis: The description in Heading No. 11 was held to be of wide amplitude, and the expression "all sorts" was taken to include all sub-classifications of iron ores and concentrates appearing under Heading 2601 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Iron ore pellets were treated as an agglomerated form of iron ore, not as a commodity outside the genus of iron ores and concentrates. The classification structure of the First Schedule, the corresponding tariff treatment, and Notification No. 62/2007-Cus dated 03-05-2007 supported the view that even iron ore fines were within the export entry, reinforcing that pellets too fell within the same entry. The earlier contractual ruling concerning the Port Trust was held inapplicable because it turned on contractual interpretation and historical context, not on tariff classification. The affidavits relied upon by the assessee were rejected as solicited and untrustworthy.

Conclusion: Iron ore pellets were held to fall within Heading No. 11 of the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and were therefore liable to export duty.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the Second Schedule uses a broad, non-subdivided tariff expression such as "iron ores and concentrates, all sorts", it is to be construed as covering all relevant subdivisions of the corresponding genus in the First Schedule, including agglomerated forms like pellets.

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