Page 81 - ELT_15th May 2020_VOL 372_Part 4th

2020 ] COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, DELHI-III v. UNI PRODUCTS INDIA LTD. 471

“(B) Criterion of sole or [principal] use. (1) Parts and accessories classi-
fiable both in Section XVII and in another Section.
Under Section Note 3, parts and accessories which are not suitable for
use solely or principally with the articles of Chapters 86 to 88 are ex-
cluded from those Chapters.
The effect of Note 3 is therefore that when a part or accessory
can fall in one or more other Sections as well as in Section XVII, its fi-
nal classification is determined but its principal use. Thus the steering
gear, braking systems, road wheels, mudguards, etc., used on many of
the mobile machines falling in Chapter 84, are virtually identical with
those used on the lorries of Chapter 87, and since their principal use is
with lorries, such parts and accessories are classified in this Section.
(2) Parts and accessories classifiable in two or more headings of
the Section.
Certain parts and accessories are suitable for use on more than
one type of vehicle (motor cars, aircraft, motorcycles, etc.); examples of
such goods include brakes, steering systems, wheels, axles, etc. Such
parts and accessories are to be classified in the heading relating to the
parts and accessories of the vehicles with which they are principally
used.
(C) Parts and accessories covered more specifically elsewhere in the
Nomenclature -
Parts and accessories, even if identifiable as for the articles of this
Section, are excluded if they are covered more specifically by anoth-
er heading elsewhere in the Nomenclature, e.g : -
xx xx
xx xx
xx xx
(7) Textile carpets (Chapter 57)
xx xx
xx xx”
Moreover, the Explanatory Notes dealing with parts and accessories under
Chapter Heading 87.08 includes floor mats (other than of textile materials or un-
hardened vulcanised rubber).
10. The Commissioner found that car mattings satisfied all the tests
enumerated in the said explanatory notes of HSN to be treated as parts and ac-
cessories classifiable under Chapter 87.08.
11. One of the reasons for such finding was that the car mattings were
suitable for use solely or principally with the vehicle and that were not excluded
by provisions of Notes to Section XVII. Then he applied the “market test”, and
concluded that if anybody asked for car matting in the market, the consumer
would get a product which could only be used in a car, with fixed length and
width. In his order, the Commissioner found that what was excluded was textile
carpets of Chapter 57 and not car mattings.
12. The Commissioner, thus, did not accept the assessee’s stand and
observed :-

EXCISE LAW TIMES  15th May 2020  81