Exclusively ayurvedic classification requires proof in authoritative texts; drug licences and practitioner certificates are not enough.

A product claiming exemption as an exclusively ayurvedic medicine must be shown by the manufacturer to be recognised in authoritative ayurvedic texts or established usage and tradition. The presence of synthetic or pharmacopoeial ingredients, combined with failure to prove that those ingredients were accepted in ayurvedic treatises or that the formulation followed accepted ayurvedic formulae, defeats the claim. A drug licence and certificates from practitioners are not enough by themselves. On the facts stated, the products were not proved to be exclusively ayurvedic and were treated as patent or proprietary medicines under Tariff Item 14E, so the Revenue's classification was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the products in question were exclusively ayurvedic medicines or patent or proprietary medicines classifiable under Tariff Item 14E, and whether the manufacturer had discharged the burden of proving that the use of synthetic or pharmacopoeial ingredients was recognised in authoritative ayurvedic texts and usage.

Analysis: The products contained several synthetic or pharmacopoeial ingredients, and the manufacturer failed to establish that those ingredients were recognised in authoritative ayurvedic treatises or that the formulations were prepared exclusively in accordance with accepted ayurvedic formulae. The grant of a drug licence and supporting certificates from practitioners was not sufficient by itself, as the evidence did not show that the preparations were exclusively ayurvedic in the sense required for exemption. The burden lay on the manufacturer to prove entitlement to the claimed classification, and that burden was not discharged.

Conclusion: The products were not proved to be exclusively ayurvedic and were correctly treated as patent or proprietary medicines falling under Tariff Item 14E, against the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the classification adopted by the Revenue was upheld and the levy was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: For excise classification, a product claimed to be exclusively ayurvedic must be shown by the manufacturer to be so recognised in authoritative ayurvedic texts or established usage and tradition; mere drug licensing, trade certificates, or the presence of some ayurvedic ingredients does not displace the use of synthetic ingredients or establish ayurvedic character.

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