Commercial parlance test governs excise classification of finished two wheeler seats made by single shot injection moulding.

Two wheeler seats manufactured by a single shot injection moulding process were classified in commercial parlance as seats or saddles, not as articles of polyurethane foam. The Tribunal applied the settled excise principle that classification depends on the nature of the finished product as understood in trade, and distinguished cases involving seats needing further processing. On that basis, the finished seats were held classifiable under Tariff Item 68 and not under Tariff Item 15A(4).

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Issues: Whether two wheeler seats manufactured by the assessee were classifiable under Tariff Item 68 of the Central Excise Tariff or under Tariff Item 15A(4).

Analysis: The classification issue had already been settled by the Tribunal in an earlier decision treating saddle or seat manufactured by a single injection moulding process, with or without a metal base, as falling under Tariff Item 68 as it stood before 28-2-1986. The product was considered in commercial parlance to be a saddle or seat for a scooter or motorcycle and not an article of polyurethane foam. The earlier decision distinguishing seats requiring further processing was also noticed as inapplicable because the present seats emerged from the single shot injection process in finished form.

Conclusion: The seats were classifiable under Tariff Item 68 and not under Tariff Item 15A(4).

Ratio Decidendi: For excise classification, a product is to be identified in commercial parlance and a finished two wheeler seat produced by single shot injection moulding is classifiable as a seat under Tariff Item 68 rather than as polyurethane foam.

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