Tariff classification of fabricated police vans follows Heading 87.07, applying binding precedent to identical goods.

Duty-paid chassis used for fabricated police vans were treated as classifiable under Heading 87.07 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, not under Headings 87.02 or 87.04. The classification turned on the character of the vehicle body manufactured by the assessee, and the same issue had already been decided in the assessee's own case. That earlier view, said to follow binding precedent of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court, was applied again to identical goods. The assessee accordingly succeeded on the tariff classification issue.

---

---

Issues: Whether police vans fabricated on duty-paid chassis were classifiable under Heading 87.07 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, rather than under Headings 87.02 or 87.04.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the correct tariff classification of the vehicle body manufactured by the assessee. The matter had already been considered in the assessee's own case, and the earlier view was that the goods did not fall under Headings 87.02 or 87.04 but were classifiable under Heading 87.07. That view was stated to follow the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had also been affirmed by the Supreme Court. In the light of the prior decision on the same issue, the same classification was accepted.

Conclusion: The goods were classifiable under Heading 87.07 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, and not under Headings 87.02 or 87.04, in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The assessee succeeded on the classification issue, and the appeal stood disposed of consistently with that conclusion.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the tariff classification issue has already been decided in the assessee's own case on the basis of binding precedent, the same classification must be followed for identical goods.

---