2014 (12) TMI 698
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....r has been obtained for that purpose. The product is subjected to levy of excise duty. According to the petitioner, the product is Medicaments that falls under the sub-heading No.3303.10 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (for short the Tariff Act). The duty was paid on that basis. However, the 2nd respondent intended to treat it as the preparation for use on hair occurring in sub-heading No.3305.00 of the Tariff Act. A show cause notice was issued in this behalf, in respect of the product cleared between May 1999 and December 2000. The petitioner submitted its explanation. Personal hearing was also given. Thereafter, the 2nd respondent passed a detailed order in original dated 28.12.2001 holding that the petitioner is liable to pay di....
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.... order on 18.01.2005, during the pendency of the writ petition, holding that the product falls under Sub-heading 3003.10 of the Tariff Act and though the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, at the instance of the respondents, as of now, the contention of the petitioner deserves acceptance. Sri Gopala Krishna Gokhale, learned counsel for the respondents on the other hand submits that the writ petition is not maintainable, since an effective alternative remedy is provided for under the Central Excise Act. He further submits that the classification of manufactured items with reference to the Tariff Act is a complicated process and that where technical aspects are involved, the matter must be left to the concerned authority, to decide.....
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....als one after the other. Secondly, whatever may have been the circumstances, under which the writ petition was filed in the year 2002, during the pendency of the writ petition, in the case of the petitioner itself, an adjudication has come into existence, may be from the Tribunal and that the same is subject matter of an appeal before the Supreme court. We are of the view that the writ petition can be entertained under these circumstances. Coming to the merits of the matter, the name of the product manufactured by the petitioner is Nizral Shampoo. The very name gives an indication that it is used as a substance that can be applied to hair be it for a healthy growth or for maintenance. The Dictionary meaning of the word shampoo is as under: ....
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....es of Chapter 30 would show that preparations of Chapter 33 even if they have therapeutic or prophylactic properties would not fall under chapter 30. However, he fairly admitted that medicaments are those that have therapeutic or prophylactic uses. Nevertheless those medicaments, if they are classifiable under Chapter 33 or Chapter 34 will not fall under Chapter 30, according to him, if they are more specifically preparations of Chapter 33 or Chapter 34. In other words, he wants to equate the product in question to shampoo enumerated under Heading 33.05. He also invited our attention to the fact that the appellants before the coming into force of the new Tariff Act described the product as shampoo and they have omitted the word shampoo deli....
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....usion upon technical matters to be reached, those authorities might be apposite, but we must stress that where intricate technical processes are involved, it is proper that the writ court should direct writ petitioners to agitate their grievances before statutory authorities who are more competent to assess the merits thereof. Howsoever tempting it may be for a Court or Tribunal to undertake by itself, the analysis of classification or to take into account, the utility of the product, that would tend to be an encroachment into the jurisdiction, which the Parliament conferred on other agencies. Another aspect is that the classification of the product is determined on the basis of the process of manufacture and its proclaimed use and utilit....
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.... intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled or sprayed on, or introduced into, or otherwise applied to, the human body or any part thereof for cleansing, beautifying, promoting, attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and includes any article intended for use as a component of cosmetic. drug includes- (i) all medicines for internal or external use of human beings or animals and all substances intended to be used for or in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of any disease or disorder in human beings or animals, including preparations applied on human body for the purpose of repelling insects like mosquitoes; (ii) such substances (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body or inten....
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