Repacking of pharmaceuticals is not repair or reconditioning for customs exemption, so Notification No. 52/2003-Cus did not apply.

Reimported goods used for repacking of pharmaceuticals were held not to fall within Notification No. 52/2003-Cus, because repacking was treated as manufacture rather than repair or reconditioning. The Tribunal applied strict construction of exemption notifications, relied on dictionary meanings of repair and reconditioning, and noted that activities amounting to manufacture cannot be brought within the exemption. It also considered the CBEC circular cited by the importer but found no basis to extend the benefit where the process created a manufacturing result. The exemption claim was therefore rejected and the customs duty demand sustained.

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Issues: Whether repacking of reimported pharmaceutical goods can be treated as repair or reconditioning so as to qualify for exemption under Notification No. 52/2003-Cus.

Analysis: The notification did not define repair or reconditioning, so their ordinary meaning was applied. Reconditioning was treated as synonymous with repair. The Tribunal held that repacking of pharmaceuticals is specifically treated as manufacture under Section 2(f) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and Chapter Note 6 to Chapter 30 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, especially where repacking from bulk packs to retail packs renders the goods marketable. An activity amounting to manufacture cannot be brought within repair or reconditioning. The exemption notification, being an exception to the general rule, had to be construed strictly and the benefit could not be extended to the claimant.

Conclusion: Repacking of the imported pharmaceutical goods was not repair or reconditioning and the exemption under Notification No. 52/2003-Cus was not available.

Ratio Decidendi: Where reimported goods undergo an activity that amounts to manufacture, the activity cannot be treated as repair or reconditioning for the purpose of an exemption notification limited to those expressions, and exemption notifications must be strictly construed.

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