Customs deeming fiction cannot extend to motor vehicle type approval for imported E-rickshaw parts.

Imported E-rickshaw components were only essential parts and not a complete motor vehicle, so Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules did not require a type certificate for the consignment. The customs deeming fiction under Rule 2(a) of the General Rules for Interpretation applies only to customs classification and duty, and cannot be extended to treat incomplete parts as a complete vehicle for motor vehicle regulatory purposes. The customs authorities were therefore not justified in withholding clearance on the basis of type approval, and the goods had to be released on payment of applicable duty.

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Issues: Whether imported E-rickshaw parts could be treated as a motor vehicle so as to require a type certificate under Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, and whether the customs authorities could withhold the consignment on that basis.

Analysis: The imported goods consisted only of essential parts of an E-rickshaw and did not by themselves constitute a complete vehicle. Rule 126 applies to a manufacturer or importer of motor vehicles and requires submission of a prototype of the vehicle for testing; it does not contemplate type approval for parts alone. Rule 2(a) of the General Rules for the Interpretation of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 creates a legal fiction only for classification and duty purposes. That fiction cannot be extended to treat incomplete parts as a complete motor vehicle for the purposes of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 or the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

Conclusion: The customs authorities were not justified in withholding the consignment for want of a type certificate under Rule 126, and the goods were required to be cleared on payment of applicable duty.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded to the extent that the importer was held entitled to clearance of the consignment, while the demand for type approval was rejected as inapplicable to imported parts.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory deeming fiction created for customs classification and duty cannot be extended beyond its limited purpose to impose regulatory requirements applicable only to complete motor vehicles.

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