Ready assembled unit test excluded site-installed ice cream cooler from excise duty under Tariff Item 29A.

Tariff Item 29A applied only to refrigerating appliances ordinarily sold or offered for sale as ready assembled units. An ice cream combination cooler assembled, erected and installed at the customer's premises to suit specifications and space requirements did not meet that description because it came into existence only after site assembly and installation. The relevant test was whether the article is normally sold in ready assembled form, not whether the customer ultimately receives a complete refrigerating appliance. On that basis, the cooler was not exigible to duty under Tariff Item 29A, and the assessment, appellate and revisional orders were set aside in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether an ice cream combination cooler assembled and installed at the customer's premises was exigible to duty under Tariff Item 29A of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 as a refrigerating appliance ordinarily sold or offered for sale as a ready assembled unit.

Analysis: Tariff Item 29A applies only to refrigerating appliances that are ordinarily sold or offered for sale as ready assembled units. A unit made, assembled, erected and installed at the customer's premises according to the customer's specifications and space requirements is not ordinarily sold in that form. The relevant enquiry is not whether the customer ultimately receives a complete refrigerating appliance, but whether the article is of the kind normally sold or offered for sale as a ready assembled unit. Where the completed unit comes into existence only after site assembly and installation, the condition built into the tariff entry is not satisfied.

Conclusion: The cooler was not dutiable under Tariff Item 29A and the assessment, appellate and revisional orders were rightly set aside, in favour of the assessee.

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