Carbon paper classification under excise tariff: treated as residuary stationery, not coated paper, for the disputed periods.

Carbon paper was treated in tariff advice and trade notice as stationery under residuary Item 68, while the revenue contended it fell within Item 17(2) as coated paper after the 1976 amendment. The amendment history and legislative material, including the memorandum of objects and reasons, showed no clear inclusion of carbon paper in Item 17(2) until it was separately inserted in 1982. On that basis, the article was not covered by Item 17(2) for the disputed periods and remained classifiable under Item 68, making the differential excise duty demand unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether carbon paper manufactured by the petitioner was classifiable under Item 68 as stationery or under Item 17(2) as coated paper for the relevant periods, and whether the consequent demand for differential excise duty was sustainable.

Analysis: The tariff advice and trade notice treated carbon paper as an article of stationery and placed it under the residuary Item 68. Although Item 17(2) was amended in 1976 to include coated paper, no clear clarification was issued bringing carbon paper within that description until it was specifically added as a separate entry only in 1982. In a taxing statute, the effect of an amendment may be gathered from the legislative material, including the memorandum of objects and reasons, and the subsequent specific inclusion of carbon paper supported the view that it was not already covered by Item 17(2) before that amendment.

Conclusion: Carbon paper was not assessable under Item 17(2) for the disputed periods and was liable to be classified under Item 68; the demand for differential duty was unsustainable.

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