Tariff classification depends on commercial identity, not special manufacture or end-use, so Properzi Rods fell within the specific entry.

Properzi Rods were classifiable as aluminium wire rods under Entry 27(a)(ii) because tariff classification turns on the broad commercial description of the article, not merely on the manufacturing process or special end-use. The record showed the rods were produced in continuous lengths ordinarily answering the description of wire rods and were treated as such in trade and administrative usage. A special process did not create a distinct commodity, and the residuary entry could apply only if the product did not fall within the specific entry. The residuary classification was rejected, and the revenue's classification was upheld.

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Issues: Whether Properzi Rods manufactured by the appellant were classifiable as aluminium wire rods under Entry No. 27(a)(ii) of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944, or under the residuary Entry No. 68.

Analysis: The deciding factor was whether the product answered the broad description used in the tariff entry, and not merely the particular process by which it was manufactured or the special end-use to which it was put. The material on record showed that Properzi Rods were produced in continuous lengths of the kind ordinarily answering the description of wire rods, and the evidence also indicated that they were treated as wire rods in relevant trade and administrative usage. The Court held that a special manufacturing process did not convert a wire rod into a distinct commodity, and that the trade evidence relied on by the appellant was insufficient to displace the broader tariff description. The residuary entry could be applied only if the product did not fall within the specific entry, which was not the case here.

Conclusion: Properzi Rods were held to be aluminium wire rods falling within Entry No. 27(a)(ii) and not the residuary Entry No. 68.

Final Conclusion: The classification adopted by the revenue authorities was upheld, and the appeals failed.

Ratio Decidendi: For tariff classification, the commodity must be identified by its broad description in common and trade understanding, and a special manufacturing process or particular end-use does not by itself take the product out of the specific entry when it remains, in substance, the same commercial article.

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