CESTAT set aside the impugned adjudication and allowed the...

CESTAT set aside the impugned adjudication and allowed the appeal by way of remand, directing the original adjudicating authority to re-examine the classification dispute de novo. The authority must undertake diligent, unbiased ascertainment of the goods' description against competing headings, relevant chapter notes (including Notes 3 and 6 of Chapter 39), Rule 3 GRI and Explanatory Notes of the HSN, and, where necessary, obtain expert opinion and laboratory testing of samples or address existing test reports. Absent conclusive expert or test evidence to displace the declared "silicone in primary form," the authority must reassess classification and any recovery of duty consistent with its fresh findings.