Calcined burnt lime excluded from Chapter 25 under Chapter Note 2, with classification under Chapter 28 needing fresh examination.

Calcined burnt lime (CaO) is treated as outside Chapter 25 because Chapter Note 2 preserves only minerals subjected to physical processes such as washing, crushing or grinding, and excludes goods that undergo roasting or calcination and thereby change chemically. The text notes that burnt lime results from high-temperature calcination and is therefore not a crude mineral product under Chapter 25. It also records that the correct tariff entry under Chapter 28 was not examined by the lower authorities, so the classification issue required fresh adjudication on the proper remaining heading.

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Issues: Whether burnt lime was classifiable under Chapter 25 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 in view of Chapter Note 2, and whether the matter required reconsideration as to the correct classification under Chapter 28.

Analysis: The product was shown to have undergone calcination at high temperature and to have emerged as burnt lime (CaO), which involved chemical change rather than mere physical processing. Chapter Note 2 to Chapter 25 preserves only goods subjected to washing, crushing, grinding and similar physical processes, but excludes products that undergo roasting or calcination and thereby change their chemical structure. On that basis, the product could not be sustained under Chapter 25 as a crude mineral product. At the same time, the issue whether the goods specifically fell within Chapter Heading 28.25 was not examined by the lower authorities, and the correct tariff entry therefore needed fresh adjudication.

Conclusion: Burnt lime was held to be outside Chapter 25 by reason of Chapter Note 2, but the classification dispute was remitted for reconsideration of the proper entry under Chapter 28.

Final Conclusion: The appellant succeeded on the exclusion from Chapter 25, but the exact tariff classification remained open and was sent back for fresh decision.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a product undergoes calcination and results in a chemically altered compound, it is excluded from Chapter 25 under Chapter Note 2, and its classification must be determined under the appropriate remaining tariff entry on proper examination.

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