Specific tariff entry for reclaimed rubber sheets prevails over residuary classification where the goods emerge as sheets in fact.

Reclaimed rubber sheets manufactured through roller sheeting mills and sold in sheet form were treated as a specific tarifiable product covered by Item 16A(2) of the Central Excise tariff. The earlier precedent relied on by the lower authorities was distinguishable because the goods in that case were not shown to emerge as sheets and the assessee had no sheet-making machinery. Since the present goods were in fact reclaimed rubber sheets, they could not be shifted to the residuary Item 68 merely because they were made from another material. The classification therefore fell under Item 16A(2), not Item 68.

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Issues: Whether reclaimed rubber sheets manufactured by the appellant were classifiable under Item 16A(2) of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 or under the residuary Item 68.

Analysis: The manufacturing process showed that the product was processed through roller sheeting mills to obtain reclaimed rubber sheets, and the goods were sold in sheet form. The earlier precedent relied on by the lower authorities was distinguishable because, in that case, the material was not shown to emerge as sheets and the assessee had stated that no sheet-making machinery was possessed. Since the goods were in fact sheets of reclaimed rubber, and the tariff specifically covered rubber sheets under Item 16A(2), there was no basis to treat them as falling within the residuary entry.

Conclusion: The goods were classifiable under Item 16A(2), not Item 68, and the appeal succeeded in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a product is shown on the facts to be a specific tarifiable article covered by a distinct entry, it cannot be shifted to the residuary entry merely because it is made from another material.

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