Brass sheet imports and exemption from additional duty: brass treated as distinct from copper, preserving duty relief.

Brass sheet imported from Nepal was treated as distinct from copper sheet for exemption purposes under Notification No. 6/2002-CE. The Tribunal followed an earlier ruling that brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, not copper itself, and noted that the precedent had not been stayed by the Supreme Court. On that basis, the same reasoning was applied to the present imports, and the duty exemption was held available.

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Issues: Whether brass sheet imported from Nepal was entitled to exemption from additional duty under Notification No. 6/2002-CE dated 01.03.2002 on the footing that it was not copper sheet.

Analysis: The Tribunal noted that an earlier decision had held brass to be an alloy of copper and zinc, distinct from copper, and had therefore extended exemption in a similar matter. As that precedent had not been stayed by the Supreme Court, the Tribunal followed it and applied the same reasoning to the present imports.

Conclusion: The appellants were entitled to the duty exemption.

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