Home Case Index All Cases Customs Customs + AT Customs - 2018 (12) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2018 (12) TMI 881 - AT - CustomsClassification of imported goods - compound optical microscopes or not - whether classifiable under heading no. 90189099 of the First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975 or classifiable under heading no 90118000 of the First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975? Held that:- There is no doubt that the goods, as presented, includes a microscope. The description of the impugned goods goes beyond to encompass ‘micromanipulator’ along with ‘microscope’ and to be deployed in treatment of infertility, an increasingly prevalent problem in the modern world for various reasons, with ever growing demand for medical intervention as an alternative to resigned acceptance of divinely ordained fate. The problem has repercussions that are not only genealogical but, at a macro level, impacting the productive future strength of the nation - It is, thus, abundantly clear that the goods, as presented, consist of a microscope and a micromanipulator. It is not the case of the customs authorities that the goods, as presented, is only a microscope. Neither is it their case that the microscope can, on its own, perform the tasks necessary for in vitro fertilisation. We have rendered the finding supra that the ‘micromanipulator’ is an essential implement for in vitro fertilisation for which the imported goods are to be utilised. The heading proposed by customs authorities is that of ‘parts and accessories’ under ‘microscope’. The classification of the impugned goods under heading no 90118000 of First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 fails and, in the face of such failure and want of an alternative classification in the show cause notice, the declared classification must be accepted - there is no reason to discard the declared classification as, contrary to the presumption of customs authorities, the impugned goods are instruments used for surgical therapy to overcome a physiological problem in a human body, viz., inability to conceive. It is not a diagnostic instrument that, in the medical field, a microscope is. Appeal allowed - decided in favor of appellant.
|