Fruit juice based drink classification prevails for lime beverage with at least 5% lemon or lime juice content.

Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh was classified as a fruit juice based drink under Tariff Item 22029020 rather than as lemonade under Tariff Item 22021020. The Tribunal noted that the issue had already been settled by a Larger Bench applying the common parlance test and the supporting legislation test, and that a beverage containing lime or lemon juice of not less than 5% falls within the fruit juice based drinks category. It also recorded that an earlier contrary view relied on by the Revenue had not displaced the Larger Bench ruling and that later decisions had followed the same classification approach.

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Issues: Whether Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh was classifiable under Tariff Item 22029020 as fruit pulp or fruit juice based drink or under Tariff Item 22021020 as lemonade.

Analysis: The issue was already settled by the Larger Bench, which held that Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh is classifiable under Tariff Item 22029020 as a fruit juice based drink. The Tribunal noted that the Larger Bench had applied both the common parlance test and the supporting legislation test, and had concluded that where lime or lemon juice content is not less than 5%, the product falls within the fruit juice based drinks category rather than lemonade. The Tribunal further noted that the earlier contrary view relied on by the Revenue had not displaced the Larger Bench ruling and that the same classification view had been followed in subsequent decisions.

Conclusion: The product was held to be classifiable under Tariff Item 22029020 and not under Tariff Item 22021020, in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A beverage with lime or lemon juice content of not less than 5% is classifiable as a fruit juice based drink under Tariff Item 22029020, and not as lemonade under Tariff Item 22021020.

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