Summary
Imported dry laser imagers, which print films from inputs received from diagnostic machines and have no diagnostic capability of their own, are accessories and not diagnostic apparatus. Because they are compatible with machines under two different headings (9018 and 9022), Note 2(b) to Chapter 90 does not apply and they fall under residuary CTH 9033 00 00 by Note 2(c). The importer's appeal was dismissed.
Issues
- Whether 'Dryview 6850 Laser Imagers' are classifiable under CTH 9018 90 19 as other diagnostic instruments and apparatus, or under residuary CTH 9033 00 00.
- Whether an accessory suitable for use with machines falling under different tariff headings can be classified with those machines under Note 2(b) to Chapter 90.
- Whether Notification No. 12/2012-Customs, raised for the first time before the Supreme Court, assisted the importer.
Provisions considered
- First Schedule, CTH 9018 90 19, Customs Tariff Act, 1975Held to cover only diagnostic instruments or diagnostic apparatus; the laser imager, lacking any diagnostic capability of its own and merely printing transmitted data onto film, could not be classified under it per se. (¶¶ 6, 8, 9)
- First Schedule, Chapter 90, Note 2, Customs Tariff Act, 1975Note 2(a) was inapplicable as the imagers are not goods included in any heading of the chapter. Note 2(b) covers accessories suitable solely or principally for one kind of machine or several machines of the same heading; since the imagers work with machines under both 9018 and 9022, which carry different duty rates, Note 2(b) was held inapplicable and Note 2(c) attracted. (¶¶ 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- First Schedule, CTH 9033 00 00, Customs Tariff Act, 1975Applied as the residuary heading for parts and accessories not specified elsewhere in Chapter 90, into which accessories usable with machines under different headings must fall. (¶¶ 7, 18)
- Section 130E(b), Customs Act, 1962Noted as the provision under which the importer appealed to the Supreme Court against the Tribunal's final order. (¶ 1)
Held
- A laser imager that only receives inputs from diagnostic equipment and transfers them onto film, without any diagnostic skill of its own and without aiding the performance of the diagnostic machine, is an accessory to that equipment and not a diagnostic instrument or apparatus; applying the functional test in C-Net Communication, it is not covered by CTH 9018 90 19 directly. (¶¶ 8, 9, 12)
- Relying on dictionary meanings and Annapurna Carbon Industries, an accessory is an aid or adjunct that contributes to equipment without changing its basic function, and the same item may be an accessory to more than one kind of instrument. (¶¶ 13, 14)
- Under Note 2(b) to Chapter 90, accessories suitable for use with machines of a single tariff heading are classified with those machines; but accessories suitable for use with machines under different headings (here 9018 and 9022, attracting different duty rates) must go to residuary CTH 9033 00 00 under Note 2(c). The Tribunal's interpretation was upheld. (¶¶ 16, 17, 18)
- Notification No. 12/2012 did not help the importer: it named specific headings and not CTH 9033, it was raised for the first time before the Supreme Court, and the importer had not shown compliance with the conditions in its annexure. (¶ 10)
Result
Appeal dismissed; classification under CTH 9033 00 00 and the differential duty demand upheld; pending applications disposed of.