Partial plastic coating excludes textile fabric from Heading 5903 and shifts classification to the applicable textile chapters.

Textile fabric that is partially coated or partially covered with plastics, and bears designs resulting from that treatment, falls within the exclusion in Chapter Note 2(a)(4) of Chapter 59 and is not classifiable under Heading 5903. The Court found the Appellate Authority had misread the test report and the chapter note by treating one-sided coating as sufficient for Heading 5903. On the material on record, the product had only partial plastic coating, so the impugned classification could not stand and the goods were required to be classified under the applicable textile chapters, namely Chapters 50 to 55, 58 or 60.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner's fusible interlining fabric of cotton, being partially coated with plastic, was classifiable under Heading 5903 of Chapter 59 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or under Chapters 50 to 55, 58 or 60 in view of Chapter Note 2(a)(4) of Chapter 59.

Analysis: The decisive question was whether the coating on the fabric was merely partial and therefore excluded from Heading 5903. The Court found that the Appellate Authority had proceeded on an erroneous reading of the test report and the chapter note, particularly by treating one-sided coating as sufficient to bring the product within Heading 5903. On the record, the fabric was found to be partially coated or partially covered with plastics and bearing designs resulting from that treatment, which answered the exclusion in Chapter Note 2(a)(4). The Court also held that the impugned classification could not stand in the face of the material placed on record showing partial coating.

Conclusion: The product was not classifiable under Heading 5903 and was required to fall under Chapters 50 to 55, 58 or 60 as covered by the exclusionary part of Chapter Note 2(a) of Chapter 59.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the advance ruling appellate order classifying the goods under Heading 5903 was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the material shows that the textile fabric is partially coated or partially covered with plastics and bears designs resulting from that treatment, it is excluded from Heading 5903 and must be classified under the applicable textile chapters instead.

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