HSN note cannot override tariff text; gum coated paper in reel form stays outside the exemption exclusion.

Gum coated paper cleared in sheet or reel form was examined against Notification No. 49/87, which excluded only gummed or adhesive paper in strips or rolls. The Revenue's reliance on an HSN note failed because that note was not incorporated into Chapter 48 of the Central Excise Tariff and could not be read into the tariff. On the facts, the product was found to be in reels or sheets, and reel form was not treated as the same as rolls for the notification. The exemption therefore remained available.

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Issues: Whether gum coated paper cleared in sheet or reel form was excluded from the benefit of Notification No. 49/87 on the footing that it was in strips or rolls.

Analysis: The exclusion in the notification applied only to gummed or adhesive paper in strips or rolls. The note in the HSN relied upon by the Revenue was not incorporated into Chapter 48 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, and therefore could not be read into the tariff. On the material before it, the product had been found to be in reels or sheets, and the distinction between a reel and a roll showed that every form other than sheet form could not automatically be treated as a roll.

Conclusion: The gum coated paper cleared by the appellant was not hit by the exclusion in the notification and remained entitled to the exemption.

Ratio Decidendi: An HSN note not incorporated into the Central Excise Tariff cannot be used to deny exemption, and a product cleared in reel form is not the same as gummed paper in strips or rolls for the purposes of the notification.

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