Tariff reclassification without notice violates natural justice and cannot stand when the heading was never in dispute.

An appellate authority cannot reclassify goods under a tariff heading that was neither in dispute nor put to notice, because such action breaches natural justice and creates a basic procedural infirmity. Where the assessee had pleaded alternate classifications but the authority instead adopted a different heading on its own assessment of the sample and its use, the reclassification was unsustainable. The impugned order was therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether the appellate authority could reclassify the goods under a tariff heading not in dispute and not put to notice, and whether such reclassification violated the principles of natural justice.

Analysis: The dispute before the appellate authority related to alternate classifications pleaded by the assessee, but the authority adopted a different tariff heading on its own assessment of the sample and its use. Since that heading was not the subject of dispute and the Revenue had not been put on notice, the reclassification was held to suffer from a basic infirmity.

Conclusion: The reclassification under the unnotified tariff heading was not sustainable and the impugned order was set aside.

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