Bare copper wire exemption applies where tinning is only a protective coating, not insulation, under the notification.

Tinned copper wire remained eligible for concessional assessment because tinning was treated as a protective metallic coating and not as insulation. The applicable notification extended benefit to bare copper wires finer than 14 SWG, and the wire was found to remain uninsulated, since a bare wire is one without an insulating layer and capable of direct contact with another surface. On that basis, the wire was held to be a bare copper wire entitled to exemption under the notification.

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Issues: Whether tinned copper wire remained a bare copper wire entitled to the exemption under Notification No. 208/79-C.E. dated 11-6-1979.

Analysis: The decisive question was whether the tinning process converted the wire into an insulated wire or merely added a protective coating. The applicable notification granted concessional treatment to bare copper wires finer than 14 SWG. The wire was found to remain uninsulated, since bare wire denotes a wire lacking an insulating layer and capable of direct contact with another surface. Tinning was treated as a protective coating and not as insulation.

Conclusion: The wire was held to be a bare copper wire and was therefore eligible for assessment at the concessional rate under the notification, in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A wire remains "bare" for exemption purposes if it is not insulated, and a protective metallic coating that does not provide insulation does not disqualify it from concessional treatment.

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