Ayurvedic medicament classification turns on recognition in ayurveda, not merely ingredient source or pharmaceutical grade.

A pain balm was held to qualify as an ayurvedic medicament under Tariff Heading 3003.30 because its ingredients were recognised in ayurvedic practice, even though some were also used in western medicine. The use of pharmaceutical-grade ingredients did not, by itself, exclude ayurvedic classification. The decisive point was that the same substance may be known by different names across medical systems, and recognition in ayurveda was sufficient to support the claimed tariff entry and nil rate of duty.

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Issues: Whether the appellant's product, Amrutanjan Pain Balm Ayurvedic, was classifiable as an ayurvedic medicament under Tariff Heading 3003.30 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and therefore entitled to nil rate of duty.

Analysis: The product was denied the claimed classification by the authorities on the view that its principal ingredients were synthetic and therefore outside ayurvedic medicine. The evidence showed, however, that the ingredients were known both to ayurvedic and western systems, and that the use of pharmaceutical grade ingredients did not by itself make the balm non-ayurvedic. The Court found that the same substance may be recognised by different names in different systems of medicine and that recognition in ayurveda was sufficient to support the claimed classification.

Conclusion: The balm was an ayurvedic medicine classifiable under Tariff Heading 3003.30 and entitled to nil rate of duty, in favour of the assessee.

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