Commercial meaning of "drug" governs customs exemption; culture media was not eligible for the notified benefit.

Culture media imported for exemption under Notification No. 55/75-C.E. could not be treated as a "drug" or bulk drug because the notification did not define the term and there was no basis to import the broader meaning from the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The expression had to be read in its commercial sense, under which a drug is ordinarily a medicinal substance used for internal or external treatment, not a diagnostic agent. The record did not establish that the imported culture media was for diagnostic use, and it also did not meet pharmacopoeial standards. The exemption was therefore unavailable.

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Issues: Whether culture media imported by the appellant was classifiable as a drug or bulk drug for the purpose of exemption under Notification No. 55/75-C.E. dated 1-3-1975.

Analysis: The notification did not define the expression "drug", and there was no legal basis for importing the wider definition from the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 into the customs exemption notification. In construing the scope of a taxing notification, the expression had to be understood in its commercial sense. On that footing, drug connotes a medicinal substance ordinarily understood as being used for internal or external treatment, and not diagnostic agents. The record also did not establish that the imported culture media was in fact meant for diagnostic use. The literature produced described microbiological and clinical laboratory products, but no specific use of the imported goods was shown, and the goods did not conform to pharmacopoeial standards.

Conclusion: Culture media could not be treated as a drug for the purpose of Notification No. 55/75-C.E. and the exemption was not available to the appellant.

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