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TMI Blog1985 (8) TMI 367X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al heading - item 68, CET - which was rejected by the lower authorities who classified them as "articles of plastics" under item 15A(2), CET. 3. Item No. 15A, CET, as it stood at the material time, read as follows : "15A. Artificial or synthetic resins and plastic materials and cellulose esters and ethers, and articles thereof:- (1) The following artificial or synthetic resins and plastic materials, and cellulose esters and ethers, in any form, whether solid, liquid or pasty, or as powder, granules or flakes, or in the form of moulding powders, namely : (i) * * * * (ii) * * * * (iii) * * * * (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 layflat tubings and polyvinyl chloride sheets, not otherwise specified. (3) * * * * (4) * * * * Explanation I. - For the purpose of sub-item (2), "plastics" means the various artificial or synthetic resins or plastic material or cellulose esters and ethers included in sub-item (1). Explanation II. - This item does not include- (a) Polyester films; (b) electrical insulators or electrical i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng electrical insulation properties; the material need not necessarily be of designated shapes or sizes. Glass, plastics, etc. were insulating materials but what the appellants manufactured were insulators out of these insulating materials. Indian Standards Specification I.S.: 1885/I/1961 defined "insulating materials" and "insulators". These definitions supported the appellants' contention. The goods were cleared not in running lengths but in the required thicknesses and sizes. They did not require any further processing. They were sold as laminates and not as articles of plastics. 7. Continuing, Shri Gagrat referred to Board's Tariff Advice No. 282/81 which clearly said that laminated plastic sheets having electrical insulating properties would be out of the scope of item 15A and would fall under item 68. 8. In the alternative, Shri Gagrat pleaded, the subject goods were composite goods. The Tribunal had held in Atul Glass Industries (I) Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, Delhi - 1984 (17) E.L.T. 585, Indian Textile Paper Tube Co. Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, Madras - 1984 E.L.T. 1509, and Kasturi and Sons Ltd., Madras v. Collector of Customs, Madras - 1985 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oken of as a plastic tube. Torch body had an identity of its own. Besides, item 15A(2) articles were not wholly made out of the materials described in item 15A(1): besides resins, plasticisers, fillers, etc. were a must. 14. The Tribunal decision in the Kasturi and Sons case (supra) had no application here. In that case, one of the layers comprising the printing plate was made of photosensitive nylon resin itself. Printing plates, again, had an identity of their own. 15. Similarly, said Smt. Zutshi, windscreens had a definite identity as motor vehicle parts. So, the Tribunal decision in the Atul Glass case (supra) had no application here. The same was the case with the Tribunal decision in the Indian Textile Paper Tube Co. case (supra). 16. According to the I.S.I. definition, insulating material would need to be fabricated to make it into an insulator. The present goods were, therefore, not insulators. They were merely insulating material. 17. Shri Gagrat, in reply, reiterated that in the Geep Flashlight case (supra), the Supreme Court, besides deciding on the classification of torch bodies, laid down a principle of general application. It was that an articl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... has further tried to argue that the subject goods are only insulating material. 21. The word "insulator" has been explained at page 563 of Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary as follows : "Any substance or mixture that has an extremely low dielectric constant, low thermal conductivity, or both. Electrical insulators are either solid or liquid, the latter being used in transformers (askarel, mineral oils, silicone oils). A wide variety of solid types includes porcelains, glass, mica, alumina, various high polymers (epoxies, polyethylene, polystyrene, phenolics), cellulosic materials, nylon and silicone resins. All these may be used alone or combined with other insulators as composites. See also dielectric; transformer oil. Thermal insulators comprise an equally broad range of materials. Such inorganics as mineral fibres, magnesia, aluminium silicate, cellulose and glass fibres are widely used for steam and hot-water pipes, furnaces, and blown-in home insulation. Organic products that are effective include plastic foams (polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene) and cellular rubber. There are a number of materials that may be called double insulators, since they have both ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion II(b). 23. That this is the Board's understanding also is shown by its Tariff Advice No. 123/81, dated 23-11-1981 (copy at page 46 of the appellants' paper book) which says that industrial laminated sheets which have electrical properties only are covered by Explanation II(b) to item 15A. 24. IS : 1885 (Part I) - 1961 (Second re-print 1980) ("Electromechanical Vocabulary - Fundamental Definitions") defines "insulating material" and "insulator" thus : "7.33 Insulating Material - Insulant - A substance or body, the conductivity of which is zero, or, in practice, very small." "16.10 Insulator - An element used to insulate a conductor or apparatus and generally as a support." "Plastics Dictionary" by Thomas A. Dickinson says :- "Insulator - a material or substance that interrupts the communication of heat or electricity to surrounding objects." We do not see anything in the above definitions which militates against the view we have expressed earlier. 25. The extracts from technical literature produced by Smt. Zutshi do not, in our view, advance the case of the Respondent. They describe the process of lamination, different types of laminated sheets, etc. But ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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