Perfumed hair oil classification turns on deliberate addition of perfume, not incidental preservation of odour.

Herbal hair oils were held not to be "perfumed hair oils" under Tariff Item 14F(ii) because the small quantity of sandalwood oil was added only to preserve odour and prevent rancidity, not by a positive and deliberate act of imparting perfume. The record, including technical and Ayurvedic opinion, showed that the fragrance came from the Ayurvedic ingredients themselves, and the department failed to prove that the products were toilet or cosmetic preparations within the tariff entry. The demand therefore could not be sustained. The governing principle is that a product falls within the perfumed hair oil entry only when perfume is deliberately added to make it a perfumed preparation, not when fragrance is merely incidental.

---

---

Issues: Whether the products manufactured by the assessee were "perfumed hair oils" falling within Tariff Item 14F(ii) and therefore excisable.

Analysis: The products were manufactured from herbal ingredients and a small quantity of sandalwood oil was added only to preserve the odour and prevent rancidity. The materials on record, including the technical opinion and the Ayurvedic authority's view, showed that the fragrance came from the Ayurvedic ingredients and not from any perfume deliberately imparted to the oils. A product can be treated as perfumed only where perfume is added by a positive and deliberate act; incidental preservation of odour does not convert an Ayurvedic preparation into a perfumed hair oil. The tariff entry, even though inclusive, covers preparations that are actually toilet or cosmetic preparations or are equivalent to such products, and the department failed to establish that these oils answered that description.

Conclusion: The products were not perfumed hair oils and were not classifiable under Tariff Item 14F(ii); the demand could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: For a product to fall within a tariff entry for perfumed hair oils, perfume must be deliberately imparted so as to make the article a perfumed preparation, and not merely added incidentally for preservation or anti-rancidity purposes.

---