Same class of goods under Rule 173L includes different tea varieties when duty-paid tea is re-made and refunded.

Rule 173L was construed to allow refund where duty-paid tea was returned to another factory of the same assessee for processing into a different variety, because "returned" and "re-made" were read in their ordinary and contextual sense. The decisive point was that the processed product remained within the same tariff class of tea; "same class of goods" was treated as broader than "same variety", so orthodox tea and CTC tea were both treated as tea for tariff purposes. Re-making could also involve mixing other ingredients, provided the final product stayed within the same class and the other conditions of the rule were met.

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Issues: Whether duty-paid tea returned to another factory of the same assessee for processing into a different variety of tea could be treated as goods returned for being re-made under Rule 173L of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, and whether the resultant product remained goods of the same class so as to qualify for refund.

Analysis: The terms "returned" and "re-made" in Rule 173L were construed in their ordinary and contextual sense, and return to the assessee's other factory after clearance was held sufficient. The process undertaken on dust tea involved transformation into another variety of tea, and the absence of identity in variety did not by itself defeat the claim if the goods continued to fall within the same tariff description. The expression "same class of goods" was treated as wider than "same variety", and the Tribunal held that tea, whether orthodox or CTC, remained tea for tariff purposes. The ruling was also supported by the understanding that re-making may involve mixing other ingredients, provided the class of goods remains the same.

Conclusion: The goods were held to have been returned for re-making and the resultant product was held to be goods of the same class. The assessee was entitled to refund under Rule 173L, subject to compliance with the other conditions of the Rule.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of Rule 173L, "same class of goods" denotes the broader tariff class and not the same variety, and a processed product remains eligible where returned duty-paid goods are re-made into another form of the same tariff commodity.

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