Accepted import classification and notification benefit cannot be reversed in refund proceedings without reclassification action.

Imported goods classified in the original assessment under Chapter heading 84.13 were treated as parts of a pump, so they did not fall within the exclusion for parts of general use under Section XV and the proviso to Notification No. 69/87-Cus. The department could not alter that accepted classification in refund proceedings without first initiating separate reclassification proceedings by show cause notice. On that basis, denial of the notification benefit was unsustainable, and the refund claim was entitled to succeed.

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Issues: Whether the imported goods could be denied refund on the footing that they were parts of general use excluded by Section XV and the proviso to Notification No. 69/87-Cus. dated 1-3-1987, and whether the department could alter the accepted classification in refund proceedings without initiating reclassification proceedings.

Analysis: The original assessment had accepted the goods under Chapter heading 84.13. In refund proceedings, the authorities changed the classification and denied the notification benefit on the basis that the goods were parts of general use, although no separate proceedings for reclassification had been initiated by show cause notice. On the record, the accepted classification treated the goods as parts of a pump, bringing them outside the category of parts of general use for exclusion from the notification.

Conclusion: The denial of refund was unsustainable, and the appellant was entitled to the notification benefit.

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