Specific GST rate entry prevails over general classification for named pharmaceutical products under the concessional schedule.

Goods expressly named in a concessional GST rate entry are taxed under that specific entry, even if they also fall within a broader general classification elsewhere in the rate schedule. The AAR applied the settled principle that a specific entry prevails over a general entry and held that the named pharmaceutical products were eligible for GST at 5% under Sl. No. 180 of Schedule I.

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Issues: Whether the specified pharmaceutical products were eligible for GST at 5% under Sl. No. 180 of Schedule I to Notification No. 01/2017-Central Tax (Rate), despite also falling within the general entry for organic chemicals in Schedule III.

Analysis: The products in question were identified in List 1 appended to Sl. No. 180 of Schedule I as Efavirenz, Emtricitabine, Suntinib Malate, Raltegravir Potassium and Latanoprost. Although the products were bulk drugs, the notification contained a specific entry covering these goods, and the general residuary description in Schedule III could not prevail over the specific listing. On settled principles of classification, a specific entry controls over a general entry, and the rate attached to the specific entry applies.

Conclusion: The specified products were held eligible for the concessional rate of GST at 5% under Sl. No. 180 of Schedule I.

Final Conclusion: The ruling confirms that goods expressly named in the concessional list are to be taxed at the rate prescribed for that specific entry, notwithstanding a broader general classification elsewhere in the rate schedule.

Ratio Decidendi: Where goods are specifically enumerated in a concessional tariff or rate entry, the specific entry prevails over a general entry covering the same goods, and the tax rate attached to the specific entry applies.

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