BHARUCHA,J. - (1.) THE Judgment of the court was delivered by
(2.) WE are concerned in these appeals with the product "rubber cement" or "black vulcanising cement" manufactured by the assesses. The case before the tribunal was that the said product fell under Tariff Entry 40.17 according to the assesses and under Tariff Entry 40.05 according to the Revenue, the appellant before us. The tribunal came to the conclusion that the said product was correctly classifiable under Tariff Item 35.01 prior to 10/2/1987, and under Tariff Item 35.06 thereafter. The assesses have accepted the classification made by the tribunal. Only the Revenue is in appeal. Tariff Entry 40.05 reads thus: JUDGEMENT_301_1_1998Html1.htm Tariff Entries 35.01 and 35.06 read thus: JUDGEMENT_301_1_1998Html2.htm The tribunal noted the process by which the said product was manufactured. It found that the raw material that was used to manufacture the said product was classified by the Revenue under Tariff Entry 40.08, which reads thus: "40.08 Plates, blocks, sheets, strip, rods and profile shapes, of vulcanised rubber other than hardened rubber." The tribunal said that this would point to the position that the raw material was vulcanised rubber and that, therefore, the said product could not possibly fall within Tariff Entry 40.05 which spoke of "Compounded rubber, unvulcanised, in primary forms ...".
(3.) LEARNED counsel for the Revenue drew our attention to Ch. Note 3 of Ch. 40 of the central Tariff which reads thus: "3. In Heading Nos. 40.02, 40.03 and 40.05, the expression Primary forms' applies only to liquids and pastes (including latex, whether or not prevulcanised, and other dispersions and solutions), and blocks of irregular shape, lumps, bales, powders, granules, crumbs and similar bulk forms." It seems to us that no argument based on Ch. Note 3 or otherwise can be of any avail to the Revenue, having regard to the undisputed position that what is used as a raw material to produce the said product is classified by the Revenue itself as vulcanised rubber. If the raw material is vulcanised rubber, the said product made from it cannot possibly be unvulcanised compounded rubber.;