Plant-fabricated structural components classified as parts of structures, not machinery, securing exemption under the notification.

Fabricated items made to specific plant requirements, and not marketable as separate commercial goods, were treated as parts of structures rather than tubes, pipes, or machinery. Hollow profiles were held to fall under Chapter Heading 73.08, not 73.06. Ducts and duct supports were also classified under Chapter Heading 73.08 because they functioned as a gas and air conveyance system, not as pollution control equipment under Heading 84.21. Goods fabricated at the plant site and covered by Heading 73.08 were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 61/90, resulting in rejection of duty demand and penalty.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether hollow profiles fabricated at the plant site were excisable goods and classifiable under Chapter Heading 73.06 or, instead, were parts of structures classifiable under Chapter Heading 73.08; (ii) Whether ducts and ducts' supports were classifiable under Chapter Heading 84.21 as pollution control equipment or under Chapter Heading 73.08 as parts of structures, and whether they were entitled to exemption under Notification No. 61/90 dated 20-3-1990.

Issue (i): Whether hollow profiles fabricated at the plant site were excisable goods and classifiable under Chapter Heading 73.06 or, instead, were parts of structures classifiable under Chapter Heading 73.08.

Analysis: The goods were fabricated to the specific requirements of a particular chimney in the plant and were not marketable as separate commercial goods. They were not tubes or pipes within Heading 73.06. Their character and use showed that they were more in the nature of structures and parts of structures prepared for use in the plant.

Conclusion: Hollow profiles were not excisable goods on the facts found and were classifiable under Chapter Heading 73.08 in favour of the assessee.

Issue (ii): Whether ducts and ducts' supports were classifiable under Chapter Heading 84.21 as pollution control equipment or under Chapter Heading 73.08 as parts of structures, and whether they were entitled to exemption under Notification No. 61/90 dated 20-3-1990.

Analysis: The ducts and their supports functioned as a conveyor system for carrying gases and air and did not purify or filter them. They were therefore not pollution control machinery or apparatus under Heading 84.21. They formed part of the plant structure and fell within Heading 73.08. Goods fabricated at the plant site and classifiable under Heading 73.08 were exempt under the notification.

Conclusion: Ducts and ducts' supports were classifiable under Chapter Heading 73.08 and were eligible for exemption under Notification No. 61/90 in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The duty demand and penalty could not be sustained, and the appeal succeeded with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: Fabricated items made to the specific requirements of a plant, which are not marketable as separate goods and function as components of a structure rather than as machinery for purification, are classifiable as parts of structures and may attract exemption applicable to such structural goods.

---