Printing industry exemption denied where rubber blankets were used in textile fabric printing, not in the printing industry itself.

Rubber blankets imported for use in printing fabrics in a textile mill were held not to fall within an exemption for goods imported "for use in the printing industry" under Notification No. 169/77-Cus. The exemption was construed by reference to the actual use and the character of the business: printing done within a textile unit did not make the unit part of the printing industry, and the blankets were not shown to be the type used in printing presses for books, periodicals, or similar products. On that basis, the claim to exemption failed because textile manufacture remained the dominant activity.

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Issues: Whether rubber blankets imported for use in printing fabrics in a textile mill qualified for exemption under Notification No. 169/77-Cus. as goods imported for use in the printing industry.

Analysis: The exemption turned on the words "for use in the printing industry" in the notification issued under Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962. The imported blankets were used in textile printing units for printing fabrics, but the Tribunal found that they were not the type of blankets used in printing presses for books, periodicals and similar products, and were not interchangeable with such blankets. Printing carried on in a textile mill did not alter the essential character of the assessee's business as a textile industry. A product or activity does not become part of the printing industry merely because some printing is done on it.

Conclusion: The exemption was not available to the appellants, and the claim was rejected.

Final Conclusion: Goods used in printing fabrics within a textile mill do not fall within the expression "use in the printing industry" in the notification.

Ratio Decidendi: An exemption confined to goods imported for use in the printing industry cannot be extended to goods used in textile printing where the underlying activity remains textile manufacture and not the printing industry.

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