Case Brief: Alpine Industries Vs. Collector of Central Excise, New Delhi

Deciding Authority: Supreme Court of India
Date of Judgement: 14th January, 2003
Bench: Justice M.B.Shah and Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari
Facts of the Case: The present two appeals have been preferred under Section 35L(b) of the Central Excises & Salt Act, 1944 against the three-member Judgement [reported in 1997 (92) E.L.T.53 (Tribunal) of the Customs, Excise & Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal Principal Bench ’C’, New Delhi. The Tribunal by majority opinion of two against one held against the appellant that its manufactured product with trade name ’Lip Salve’ is classifiable for payment of excise duty under Heading 33.04 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 [hereinafter referred as ’Act’] as ’a preparation for care of skin’ and not as a ’medicament’ under Heading 30.03 of the Act.
Judgement of the Case: The Supreme Court held that the agreement with the majority opinion of the Tribunal that the product ’Lip Salve’ is a kind of “barrier cream” or a protective cream against skin irritants. It, therefore, clearly falls under entry 33.04 and conforms to the description ’preparation of the care of the skin other than medicaments’. The learned counsel of the appellant has not been able to persuade us to take a different view from the one taken in the majority opinion of the Tribunal. We confirm that the product ’Lip Salve’ is essentially a preparation for protection of lips and skin and is not a ’medicament’. Such preparations which have a subsidiary curative or prophylactic value clearly fall under entry 33.03 to 33.07 as per note no.2 under Chapter 33. The product clearly is covered by entry 33.04 read with note no.5 of Chapter 33, it essentially being a preparation for protection of lips or skin. We have also gone through the minority opinion expressed by one of the members of the Tribunal and the reasoning therein supported before us on behalf of the appellant. For the reasons aforesaid, we are unable to agree with the minority view. In the result, we find no merit in these appeals and the same are hereby dismissed.