Tariff classification and SSI exemption: connectors with wire fall under Heading 8536.90, and provisional registration does not defeat the benefit.

Connectors with wire were held classifiable under Heading 8536.90 rather than Heading 8544.00 because the product was treated as covered by the Larger Bench ruling on similar goods. SSI exemption was also held admissible because the exemption condition required registration, not final registration; provisional registration remained valid, and the absence of a specific product entry in the registration certificate did not justify denial on the facts found. The Revenue's challenge on both classification and exemption therefore failed, and the impugned order was sustained.

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Issues: (i) Whether connectors with wire were classifiable under Heading 8536.90 or Heading 8544.00 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. (ii) Whether SSI exemption could be denied on the ground that the assessee held only provisional registration and the product was not specifically listed in the registration certificate.

Issue (i): Whether connectors with wire were classifiable under Heading 8536.90 or Heading 8544.00 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.

Analysis: The product was treated as similar to the goods considered by the Larger Bench, which had already held that such goods fell under Heading 8536.90. That view was accepted as governing the present dispute.

Conclusion: The product was correctly classifiable under Heading 8536.90, not under Heading 8544.00.

Issue (ii): Whether SSI exemption could be denied on the ground that the assessee held only provisional registration and the product was not specifically listed in the registration certificate.

Analysis: The exemption condition required registration, not final approval or final registration. The assessee was registered, the provisional registration had not been cancelled, and the absence of a product entry in the certificate did not justify denial of the benefit on the facts found.

Conclusion: SSI exemption was available to the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue's challenge to both the classification and the SSI exemption failed, and the impugned order was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the applicable tariff classification has already been settled for similar goods, and the exemption notification requires only registration without insisting on final registration, the benefit cannot be denied merely because the registration was provisional or did not expressly list the product.

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