Snack classification as Namkeen under sub-heading 2108.99 upheld, securing exemption for fried ready-to-eat snack products.

Fried rings made from rice, wheat and potato flour, sold as ready-to-eat snacks, were treated as food preparations under sub-heading 2108.99 rather than pasta under Heading 19.02. The product was considered commercially and functionally distinct from pasta because it was prepared from dry pellets, fried in oil, salted and flavoured, placing it in the category of namkeens. Prior classification of similar snack products under sub-heading 2108.99 supported that view, and no stay or reversal of that classification was shown. The goods were therefore held eligible for exemption under Notification No. 4/97-C.E., and the Revenue's challenge did not succeed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the goods, being fried rings made from rice, wheat and potato flour and sold as ready-to-eat snacks, were classifiable under sub-heading 2108.99 as food preparations/Namkeens and eligible for exemption under Notification No. 4/97-C.E., or whether they fell under Heading 19.02 as pasta.

Analysis: The product was found to be a snack prepared from dry pellets fried in oil, salted and flavoured, and therefore commercially and functionally distinct from pasta. The Tribunal noted that similar goods had already been classified under sub-heading 2108.99 in an earlier decision involving comparable snack products, and no stay or reversal of that decision was shown. On that basis, the goods were treated as Namkeens covered by the relevant exemption entry in Notification No. 4/97-C.E.

Conclusion: The goods were correctly classified under sub-heading 2108.99 and were entitled to exemption under Notification No. 4/97-C.E.; the Revenue's challenge failed.

---