Portable electric drill tools held classifiable as hand tools when designed to be held and operated by hand.

Portable electric drill machines and allied drill/grinding attachments were held classifiable as tools for working in the hand under Tariff Item 51A(ii), not under Tariff Item 68. The classification turned on the tariff wording and the functional character of the goods: they were compact, portable implements designed to be held and directed by hand during use. The construction of "tools for working in the hand" was read broadly to include heavier portable electric tools, supported by earlier Tribunal treatment of similar drilling machines. The departmental classification was therefore sustained.

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Issues: Whether the electric drill machines and allied drill/grinding attachments were classifiable as hand tools under Tariff Item 51A(ii) of the Central Excise Tariff or under Tariff Item 68.

Analysis: The products were compact, portable electric drill machines capable of being held and operated in the hand, and the literature as well as photographs showed that they were designed for hand use during operation. Classification had to follow the wording of the tariff entry, and the expression "tools for working in the hand" covered not only light implements but also heavier portable tools that are held and directed by hand during use. The earlier Tribunal view on portable electrically driven drilling machines supported this construction.

Conclusion: The goods were correctly classifiable under Tariff Item 51A(ii) and not under Tariff Item 68.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed and the departmental classification was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Portable electric tools designed to be held and operated by hand during use fall within the tariff entry for tools for working in the hand.

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