Metal container classification fails for wagon air drive reservoirs used as operating devices, not for packaging goods.

Air drive reservoirs fitted to bottom discharge hopper wagons were held not to be metal containers under Item 46 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944. Item 46 applied to articles ordinarily intended for packaging goods for sale, including pressure containers, but these reservoirs were used as operating devices to open and close wagon doors with pressure and formed part of the wagon mechanism. As they were not intended for packaging, conveyance or storage of goods for sale, they fell outside the item and were not classifiable under it.

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Issues: Whether Air Drive Reservoirs fitted to Bottom Discharge Hopper Wagons were classifiable as metal containers under Item 46 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944.

Analysis: Item 46 covered metal containers not elsewhere specified, and the relevant explanation treated containers as articles ordinarily intended for packaging of goods for sale, including pressure containers. The reservoirs in question were not used for packaging goods for sale; they functioned as operating devices for opening and closing wagon doors with the aid of pressure and formed part of the wagon mechanism. The departmental trade notice also supported the view that articles intended for conveyance or storage of goods do not fall within the item.

Conclusion: The reservoirs were not metal containers within Item 46 and were not classifiable under that item.

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