Trade Parlance Test in Tariff Classification upheld for corrugated plastic roofing, with exemption denied

In tariff classification, the decisive test was trade parlance or common commercial understanding, not dictionary meaning alone. Applying that approach, fibre glass reinforced polyester corrugated roofing was treated as a plastic sheet under Item 15A(2) because corrugation or profile shape did not by itself take the goods outside the description of sheets, and the assessee led no evidence on commercial understanding or product characteristics. The prior departmental classification was also not shown to be perverse. The mixed composition argument failed because it had not been raised before the excise authorities and no evidence showed that fibre glass content excluded the goods from the tariff entry. The article therefore notes that the goods were not entitled to exemption under Notification No. 68 of 1971.

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Issues: Whether fibre glass reinforced polyester corrugated roofing was classifiable as a plastic sheet under Item 15A(2) of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 and, if so, whether it was exempt under Notification No. 68 of 1971 dated 29th May, 1971.

Analysis: The decisive consideration in tariff matters was how the goods were understood in trade parlance or common parlance, not merely by dictionary meaning. No evidence was led by the assessee on commercial understanding, thickness, size, or degree of corrugation. The mere fact that the goods were corrugated or had a profile shape did not exclude them from the description of sheets, especially when the tariff itself included articles of plastics such as tubes, rods and sticks, which also had profile shapes. The prior departmental classification was not shown to be perverse. The additional contention that the goods contained fibre glass as well as polyester was also rejected, as no such case had been raised before the excise authorities and no evidence showed that mixed composition took the goods outside the tariff entry.

Conclusion: The corrugated roofing was rightly treated as a plastic sheet falling under Item 15A(2) and was not entitled to exemption under Notification No. 68 of 1971.

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