1979 (2) TMI 112

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....m No. Description of goods Rate of duty 15-A. (2) Articles made of plastics all sorts, including tubes, rods, sheets, foils, sticks, other rectangular or profile shapes, whether laminated or not, and whether rigid or flexible, including lay flat tubings, and polyvinyl chloride sheets, not otherwise specified." Fifty per cent ad valorem On 29th May 1971 the Union of India issued an Exemption Notification in regard to items falling under item No. 15-A(2). The relevant portion thereof reads thus :- "15A. (ii) Under Government of India, Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue and Insurance) Notification No. 68/71-Central Excise, dated the 29th May, 1971, the Central Government hereby exempts articles made of plastics, al....

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.... of the fact that the order of the 2nd Respondent is based upon it. The Trade Notice is dated 26th December, 1970 and the relevant portion reads thus :- "......... A question has been raised as to what is the demarcating line between `rigid' and `flexible' plastic boards, sheeting, sheets, films, etc., referred to in the notifications. The matter has been examined and it has been decided that plastic boards, sheeting, sheets, films which have an elasticity of not over 700 kilograms per square centimetre at 23 Centigrade and 50% relative humidity when tested in accordance with the method of test for stiffness of plastics as laid down in A.S.T.M. (D-47) should be treated as "non-rigid or flexible". All other plastic boards, sheetings, shee....

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...." Against the orders of the 1st and 2nd Respondents the Petitioners have presented this petition. 8th February, 1979 : 5. The principal contentions raised in the petition and in the submissions made before me by Mr. Taraporewalla, learned Counsel for the Petitioners, were that the excise authorities were not entitled to issue and rely upon the Trade Notice defining `rigid and flexible' is an artificial and arbitrary manner, that the classification of plastic sheets was universally recognised to be (a) rigid, (b) semi-rigid, and (c) flexible under the ASTM standard; and that the petitioners' articles fall within the classification "semi-rigid", and were, therefore, entitled to exemption under the Exemption Notification. 6. It was....