TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1978 (11) TMI 60
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....Indian Customs Tariff and charged duty at the rate of 60 per cent ad valorem amounting to Rs. 62,871.03 P., instead of classifying the imported ore either under item 26 or Item 70 (7) which are free from duty. These relevant items, as entered in the Import Tariff, may be set out as under : Item No. Name of Article Nature of duty Standard rate of duty 26 Metallic ores all sorts except orchres and other pigments ores and antimony ore. x Free 70(7) Cobalt chromium, tungsten, magnesium and all other non-ferrous virgin metals not otherwise specified. x Free Section XXII (Articles not otherwise specified) 87 All other articles not otherwise specified. Revenue 60% ad ....
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....be tungsten ore within the contemplation of Item 70 (7) of the Indian Import Tariff. In support of his contentions, learned counsel has relied upon the judgment of this Court in Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India Ltd. v. Union of India and Ors. = (1973) I S.C.R. 997 and certain Certificates of experts, as also an extract from the treatise on `Tungsten' by C.J. Smithells Chapman-Hall. 3. As against this, Mr. Datar has drawn our attention to the order, dated July 31, 1965, wherein the Appellate Collector of Customs has observed that no evidence was adduced by the importer to substantiate the contentions that the ore in question had undergone no chemical process before being imported, and that the inference is that such high p....
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....wolfram ore concentrate in powder form as in that case. On appeal by the importer, the Appellate Collector held that the goods in question were in the manufactured form made by special specifications by dressing and were thus not "ores". The Central Government rejected the revision application filed by the appellant, holding that the examination by the Chemists showed that the uniform granules of the material were not only separated from rock but also from various impurities and had been subjected to such processing as would take them out of category of metallic ore mentioned in Item 26. This Court, speaking through Grover J., allowed the importer's appeal with these opposite observations : "There is a good deal of force in the argument ....
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....am ore of marketable quality may vary from 60 to 79 per cent and a concentration within these limits of the metal in the ore can be attained simply by a process of a "selective mining", that is, by physical process not involving any chemical change in the metal. The following passage (vide Annexure `I' in the record) culled out from the Introduction to the treatise on "Tungsten" by C.J. Smithells Chapman - Hall, fully bears out this conclusion : "Mining.-Tungsten ores, although so widely distributed rarely occur in massive form. The ores are usually found in narrow veins, but in some of the rich deposits the veins may in places be several metres wide. Cassiterite is the commonest metallic mineral associated with tungsten, but minerals co....
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.... always selectively mined in the technical terminology ...... such "selective mining" does not constitute a manufacturing process. Unless selective mining is done, the tungsten ore cannot be exported or even sold in the country of its origin. In view of the above, the import of selectively mined tungsten ore containing 65% WO3 or more should not be regarded as the import of a product which has been manufactured overseas and has passed through the manufacturing process. By the expression 'selectively mined', we mean that the wolfram ore is detached and taken out from the rock in which it is embedded and this is done by crushing the rock and sorting out pieces of wolfram ore therefrom either by hand or by washing or magnetic separation." 5....
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....f Customs that such a high degree (75%) of tungsten metal virtually free from impurities in the material could be attained only by some chemical manufacturing process and not merely by crushing, washing or magnetic separation, is not based on any evidence whatever. It is contrary to the opinions of experts and authorities on the subject, which were brought on the record. It is evident from the passage extracted from Smithells' treatise, and the other Certificate of experts, mentioned above, that in order to bring mined wolframite ore to a marketable quality, it has to be concentrated by physical methods, such as crushing, washing, gravitation, magnetic separation etc. and by such physical process only a concentration of WO3 varying from 60 ....