Accessoryship test limits exemption: D.G. set and control panel were not accessories of scientific equipment for research use.

Exemption under Notification No. 10/97-C.E. was denied for a D.G. set and control panel supplied to a research laboratory because they were not accessories of scientific or technical instruments, apparatus or equipment. Applying the accessoryship test, the article must be an adjunct, accompaniment or addition for the convenient use of the main article; mere usefulness or necessity for effective operation is insufficient. The D.G. set and control panel were installed only to provide power back-up during electricity failure, so they did not qualify as accessories and the exemption was unavailable.

---

---

Issues: Whether D.G. set and control panel manufactured and cleared for a research laboratory were accessories of scientific and technical instruments, apparatus or equipment so as to qualify for exemption under Notification No. 10/97-C.E.

Analysis: The exemption covered accessories of scientific and technical instruments, apparatus and equipment supplied to non-commercial research institutions subject to the prescribed certificate and pass-book conditions. The controlling question was whether the D.G. set and control panel could be regarded as an accessory. Applying the test of accessoryship, an article must be an adjunct, accompaniment, addition for convenient use, or something secondary to the main article. The D.G. set and control panel were found to be installed only to provide power back-up in case of electricity failure. They were useful to the laboratory, but they were not adjuncts or additions to any scientific instrument, apparatus or equipment.

Conclusion: The goods were not accessories of scientific and technical instruments, apparatus or equipment and the exemption was not available; the finding was against the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: An item is an accessory only if it is an adjunct, accompaniment or addition for the convenient use of the main article, and necessity for effective use by itself does not make it an accessory.

---