HDPE exemption eligibility remains intact where carbon black content alone does not prove chemical modification.

Imported HDPE granules containing 2% carbon black remained eligible for exemption under Serial No. 477 of Notification No. 21/2002-Cus. Earlier Tribunal rulings on identical goods had already held that the mere presence of carbon black did not show the goods ceased to be HDPE or that they were chemically modified beyond the tariff description. With no contrary material produced and the earlier view having been accepted by the Revenue, denial of the exemption was unsustainable. The operative effect is that carbon black content alone cannot defeat exemption eligibility without proof of chemical modification or a departure from the specified entry.

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Issues: Whether imported HDPE granules containing 2% carbon black were entitled to exemption under Serial No. 477 of Notification No. 21/2002-Cus.

Analysis: The dispute had already been decided in earlier Tribunal decisions concerning identical goods and the same exemption entry. Those decisions held that addition of carbon black, by itself, did not establish that the goods ceased to be HDPE or that they were chemically modified so as to fall outside the exemption. The issue was treated as settled and the earlier view had been accepted by the Revenue. The present case involved the same factual and legal controversy, and no contrary material was shown to justify a different view.

Conclusion: The imported goods remained eligible for the exemption and the denial of benefit was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where identical HDPE granules with carbon black have already been held eligible for exemption, the benefit cannot be denied merely on the basis of carbon black content in the absence of proof of chemical modification or departure from the tariff description.

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