Holding

Only "made up" goods can be classified under Chapter 59 heading 59.09/59.11, and the goods in question are non‑made‑up, so they fall under Chapters 52/54.

Summary

The Commissioner of Central Excise appealed against the classification of grey cotton canvas cloth, belting and duck manufactured by Simplex Mills Co. Ltd. The issue was whether these goods should be taxed under tariff headings 52.02/54.08 (non‑made‑up goods) or under heading 59.09/59.11 (made‑up goods for industrial use). The Supreme Court examined the meaning of "made up" and "non‑made up" in Section Note 5, Section Note 6 and Chapter Note 6 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, and applied the Rules of Interpretation (Rule I and Rule 3). Relying on the earlier Jyoti Overseas decision, the Court held that only "made up" articles fall under Chapter 59 and that the goods in question are running lengths of unprocessed fabric, i.e., non‑made‑up, and therefore belong to Chapters 52/54. Consequently, the earlier Simplex I decision was overruled and the appeals were dismissed.

Issues considered

Whether grey cotton canvas cloth, belting and duck are "made up" goods within the meaning of Section Note 6 and thus fall under Chapter 59 heading 59.09/59.11.
How Section Note 5, Section Note 6, Chapter Note 6 and the Rules of Interpretation should be applied to determine the correct tariff heading.
Whether the earlier Tribunal decision (Simplex I) classifying the goods under Chapter 59 should be upheld or overruled.

Legislation cited

Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944s. Section 37-B
Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985s. Chapter Note 6, s. Section Note 5, s. Section Note 6

Subjects

classificationcentral excisetariff headingsmade up goodsnon‑made‑up goodsinterpretation rulesSection Note 6Chapter Note 6Supreme Court

Judgment

COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, NAGPUR A
v.
MIS. SIMPLEX MILLS CO. LTD.

MARCH I, 2005

[RUMA PAL, ARIJIT PASAYAT AND C.K. THAKKER, JJ.) B

Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985; Chapters 52, 54 and 59, Tariff Headings
52.02, 54.08, 59.09 and Section Notes 5 and 6/Rules of Interpretation of
Schedule to the Act; Rule I and 3 and Circular dated June 30, 1997 issued C
by the Central Board of Excise and Customs :

Classification-Grey cotton canvas cloths/belting and duck-Tariff
Headings 52.02154.08 or 59.09-Held: Jn terms of Section· Note 6, Chapters
52 to 55 would not apply to 'made up' goods-It follows that these Chapters
would apply to non-made up goods and Chapter 59 apply to made up goods- D
Goods in question are non made u~Tribunal rightly classified the product
in question under Chapter 52 or 54.

Words and Phrases :

'made up goods' and 'non-made up goods '-Meaning of in the context E
of Section 5 of the Central Excise Act.

The question which arose for consideration in these appeals wa~ as
to whether the grey cotton canvas cloth, hundred per cent cotton/grey
cotton, belting and duck classifiable under Tariff Headings 52.02 or 54.08
·of the Central Excise Tariff Act as claimed by the assessee or under Tariff F
Heading 59.09 of the Act as assessed by the Revenue.

Dismissing the appeals, the Court

HELD : I. "Non made up" goods would cover running lengths of
textiles, unprocessed in the manner specified in the Section Note to the G
Central Excise Tariff Act. Section Note (SN-6) specifically provides that
Chapters 52 to 55 would not apply to "made up" goods. It would logically
follow that they would therefore apply to non-made up goods. Paragraph
(a) ofCN-6 deals with "textile products in the piece, cut to length or simply
441 H
442 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R.

A cut to rectangular (including square) shape (other.,than.those .having the
character of the products of heading ,numbers 59.0rand 59.08)": From
this, read with SN-5 and 6, it is inferred .that the context of Tariff Heading
59.09 requires that it would apply to 'made up' goods. Running lengths
of unprocessed textiles or non-made,up: goods therefore would not be
B.: covered by this paragraph. The language of Tariff Heading 59.09 itself
shows that it refers to articles and rroducts other than articles reffrred
to in the Chapter.· There is a distinction between articles and products on
the one hand and textile .fabrics on the other hand.
(447;8.:'.C:D, G-H;'7448-Aj.·

C Jyoti Overseas Ltd.. v: CCE, Indore, (2001) 130 "ELT .446;:app!'oved.••

2."lf neither the heading nor the notes suffice .to clarify the scope of·
a.heading, then it.must be construed for the interpretation.oUhe Schedule:
to the .Act according to the other following .provisions.,contaiiied '.in Jhe '.
Rules. Rule-I gives:primacy to·the Section:and.Chapter_Notes·along~with_.
D .terms of the .headings. They·should1beJirst applied.'_The appellants :have:.
relied upon Rule 3:Rule3 must be understood only in the .context of sub-.
rule (b) of Rule -rwhich"says inter alia .that the classification ·of.goods.
consisting of more than one material or·substance shall be according to
the principles contained in Rule 3. Therefore when·goods areprimafacie, ...,
_ classifiable under two or -more headings, classification shaU be effected
E according to sub!rules (a), (b) ana (c) of Rule 3 ·and in that order;-Applying
the Rules of interpreta~ion particularly Rule l of the Rules, it can be said ·
that the reasoning of a larger Bench of the Tribunal in-the case of Jyoti
Overseas is unexceptionable and, therefore .the decision in the case of
Simplex Mills Co. Ltd v: CCE Nagpur, (1993) .49 ECR 147/Suppt.•1 ·was·
p correctly overruled by the larger Bench of the Tribunal by classify!ng the
products of the respondent under Chapters 5rand.54 of the Act.•
(448-B~c.:n;H;' 449.;A-Br;

Jyoti Overseas Ltd v: CCE,:lndore, (2001) 130 ELT·446,-approved.'

G, , CIVJL·APPELLATEJURJSDJCTl_ON< Civil,App~al:Nos!')2816"2818.-.
of 2002.. ·i - · •1

From. the ~udg\nent and .Order. dated 30.10.200 l o.f the.Ce'ntrat"Excise·, ·
Customs and, Gold .(Control) ~ppellate .Tribunal; Western-RegionaLBench,at 1
Mumbai in F.O ..No. C-1/3415~17/WZB/2001 in A:iNo.-E/2263~2265:of2001
H
C.C.E. v. SIMPLEX MILLS CO. LTD. [RUMA PAL. J.] 443

Mum. A
WITH

C.A. Nos. 1694, 5039-5040 and 5455-5458 of 2003.

A. Subba Rao, Ravinder Aggarwal, T.A. Khan, P. Parmeswaran, B. B
Krishna Prasad, V. Lakshmikumaran, Alok Yadav, Rajesh Kumar, Mahesh
Agrawal, Rishi Agrawal, E.C. Agrawala, Sanjeev Malhotra, V. Balachandran,
M.H. Patil, R.K. Krishnamurthy, Shri Narain, Ms. Anjali Jha, Sandeep Narain
and Prabha Swami for the appearing parties.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered .by c
RUMA PAL, J. The respondent is engaged in the manufacture of
Textiles, namely; grey cotton canvas cloth, hundred percent cotton/grey cotton,
belting and duck. The issue to be resolved is whether these goods are
classifiable under Tariff Headings (TH) 52.02, 54.08 or 59.09 of the Schedule
to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. The appellant contends that they are D
classifiable under TH 59.09. The respondent on the other hand cleared the
goods classifying them either under TH 52.02 or 54.08. Consequently on
23rd September, 1992 24 show cause notices were issued by the Excise
Authorities to the respondent to show cause why differential duty amounting
to Rs. 545, l 0,838 should not be recovered against the clearances effected E
during the period 20. 7 .1987 to 13.8.1992. The respondent showed cause. The
Assistant Collector confirmed the demand on the basis of an earlier decision
of the Central Excise and Gold Control Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT) in .he
respondent's own case reported as Simplex Mills Co. Ltd. v. CCE Nagpur, in
(1993) 49 ECR 147 (referred to as 'Simplex I').
F
Simplex-I had rejected the respondent's submission .that grey belting
cloth or canvas cloth which·were manufactured by it were classifiable under
TH 52.05 or 54.08. These two headings read :

Chapter 52 Cotton 52.2
Head Sub- Description Rate of duty G
Ing No. heading No. of goods Basic Additional

2 "
.J 4 5

52.05 5205.00 Cotton fabrics,- Nil Nil
a) woven, and H
444 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R.

A b) not subjected to any·
process

Chapter 54 Man-made filaments 54.2

Head Sub- Description Rate of duty
B Ing No .. heading No. of goods Basic AdditiOnal

2 3 4 5
54.08 5408.00 Fabrics of man-made Nil ' Nil
filament yarn (including
fabrics obtained from
c materials of heading Nos.
54.06 and 54.07).
· a) woven, and
b) not subjected to any
process

D It was held that fabrics f~r industrial use fall only under TH 59.09; TH.
59.09 reads :

Chapter 59 Impregnated, coated and laminated fabrics, etc.. 59.6
Head Sub- Description Rate of duty
E Ing No. heading -No. of goods Basic Additional

2 3 4 5
'59.09 5909.00 . All other textiles products 12%
and articles of a kind suitable
for industrial use (for example,
F textHe fabrics, combined with
one or .more layers of rubber,
leather or other material,
bolting cloth, endless felts
of textile· fabrics, straining ·
cloth)
G
The conclusion in Simplex I was arrived at on the basis that TH 59.09
referred to fabrics for industrial use and that fabrics for industrial use.was a
specific description and applying Rule 3(a) of the lnterpre~ation Rules, I11
59.09 would prevail over general description of the fabrics as grey cotton
H fabrics or man made fabrics under 1:H 52.05 or 54.08. It was held that TH
C.C.E. v. SIMPLEX MILLS CO. LTD. [RUMA PAL . .I.] 445

59.09 was a specific entry which dealt with fabrics for industrial use and A
since the respondent marketed their products admittedly for industrial use,
the other entries in Chapteis 52 and 54 would not apply. It was further held
construing CN-6 that if the article is covered by 59.09 then it was excluded
from Chapters 52 to 56. A number of authorities were referred to for coming
to the conclusion that the items manufactured by the respondent were industrial B
fabrics. Reference was also made to the HSN explanatory notes which,
according to the Tribunal supported their view.

In the meanwhile, not only had the respondent challenged the decision
of CEGA T in Simplex I before this Court but also on 5th November, 1993,
an order was issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs under C
Section 37-B of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 (as it stood then)
clarifying that grey cotton canvas, cotton ducks, cotton tyre cord fabrics and
cotton belting fabrics would thenceforth be classified under TH No. 52.05.
According to the respondent in view of this circular it did not press its appeal
before this Court which was accordingly dismissed for non-prosecution on
3rd November," 1995. This prompted the Central Board of Excise in Customs D
to examine the matter afresh and issue an order on 30th June, 1997 in
supersession of the 37-B circular dated 5.11.l 993 that :-

A. grey cotton tyre cord fabrics, grey, belting cloth, grey filter cloth/
straining cloth and grey belting cloth and belting duck, generally E
having technical uses and generally not used for making clothing,
household linen, bedspreads, curtains, other furnishing articles,
etc. shall henceforth be classified under heading No. 59.11 of the
CET;

B. the grey cotton canvas and grey cotton duck, not having technical· F
uses, shall henceforth be classified under chapter 52 of CET; and

C. the grey cotton belting shall henceforth be classified under heading
59.10 subject to note 6 to Chapter 59."

The 1997 Circular virtually reproduced the decision in Simplex I which had
held that the respondents' goods were correctly classifiable under TH 59.09. G
(subsequently numbered as 59. I I).

Relying on Simplex-I, the Commissioner (Appeals) dismissed the
respondents' appeal and the demand for differential duty was confirmed.
Subsequent to this, the decision in Simplex-I was overruled by a larger bench H
ofCEGAT in Jyoti Overseas Ltd. v. CCE, Indore, (2001) 130 ELT 446. The
446 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R.

A larger bench decision· in: Jyoti Overseas Ltd v. Commissioner of Central
Excise, Indore (supra) in overruling Simplex-I held (l) only "made up" articles
can be classified.under. Chapters 59.09. The department's case there as well
as in the case before us was not that the cotton fabrics manufactured by the
respondent/assessee were·.in any manner made up, nor was it in dispute that
the goods ~were _woven fabrics of more than 85% by weight of cotton .. The
B goods were .in running•length.not cut to size.or processed; 2) Tariff heading
59.09 was a residuary heading so that if goods manufactured by appellants
fall in any other heading of Section XI it cannot be classified under Chapter
heading ,59'.09~' 3) texti"le .products or textile articles as referred to in 59.09
were not ·textile .fabrics/ Only_ something made out the fabrics would be
C tenned as textile products or textile articles. Therefore, unprocessed textile
fabrics do not falrwithin59:09 (now 59:11); 4) pe hors the items contemplated
by Chapter Note_6 '(riow -7} to Chapter 59, no articles could be classified
under heading .59:09'.'Followitig the decision in Jyoti Overseas the CEGAT
by the order impugned iri this appeaLset aside the order of the Commissioner
(Appeals) .. The.question is was Jyoti Overseas right in overruling Simplex n
D
The three Chapters,. namely; Chapters 52, 54 and 59· are.contained in
Section XI of the Central Excise~Tariff. At the relevant time, Section-Note
5 defined the word "made up" for the .purposes of the entire Section as
meaning:-
E. (a) Cut otherwise than into squares·or rectangles;
(b) Produced.in the finished state, ready for. use (or merely needing
separation.by, cutting dividing .threads) without sewing or other
working (for example, certain dusters, towels, table cloths, scarf
squares, blankets);
F
(c) Hemmed or with'rolled edges, or with a knotted·fringe at any of
the edges, but excluding ·fabrics, the cut edges of which have
been·prevented from·unraveling·by whipping or by·other simple
means;
(d) Cut ,to size and .having undergone a .process of drawn thread
work;
(e) Assembled by sewing, gumming or otherwise (other than piece
gooM consisting .oftwo or more lengths of identical material
joined end to end .and -piece goods composed 'of two or more
textiles assembled .in layers, whether or not padded); _
H
C.C.E. v. SIMPLEX MILLS CO. LTD. [RUMA PAL. J.] 447
(f) Knitted or crocheted to shape, presented in the form ofa number A·
of items in the length".

"Non made up" goods would, therefore, cover running lengths of textiles,
unprocessed in the manner specified in the Section Note. Section Note (SN)

-
-6 specifically provides that Chapter 52 to 55 would not apply to "made up"
goods. It would logically follow that they would therefore apply to non-made B
up goods According to SN-6 Chapters 56 to 60 unless the context so required
would also not apply to "made up" goods and Chapters 50 to 55 would not
apply to goods of Chapters 56 to 59. Chapter Note (CN)-6 of Chapter 59
clarifies that Heading No. 59.09 applies to specific goods as enumerated in
paragraphs (a) and (b) thereof, which do not fall in any other heading of C
Section XI. It follows that (1) unless the goods fall under paragraphs (a) or
(b), they would not be covered by TH 59.09 and (2) that TH 59.09 is the
residuary heading to cover all the enumerated goods provided they do not fall
in any other heading of Section XI. Paragraph (a) of CN-6 deals with "textile
products in the piece, cut to length or simply cut to rectangular (including
square) shape (other than those having the character of the products of heading D
numbers 59.07 and 59.08)". From this, read with SN-5 and 6, we may infer
that the context of TH 59.09 requires that it apply to 'made .up' goods.
Running lengths of unprocessed textiles or non made up goods therefore
would not be covered by this paragraph.

Paragraph 'b' of SN-6 also pertains to "textile articles (other than those E
of heading principles 59.07 and 59.08) of a kind used for t~chnical purposes
[for example textile fabrics and felts, endless or fitted with linking devices,
of a kind used in paper making or similar machines (for example, for pulp
or asbestos cement), gaskets, washers, polishing discs and other machinery
parts]". F
This paragraph of CN-6 also indicates that it refers to 'made up' or
processed goods and therefore running lengths or bolts of unprocessed fabric
are not covered by TH 59.09. "Endless felts" contrary to what was assumed
in Simplex I is not a running length of fabric, but a product with no end such
as a completed circular length which being without an end or beginning G
would be endless. TH 59.09 deals with textile 'articles' and not textile fabrics
as wrongly assumed in Simplex I. Examples of textile articles may be found
in TH 59.07 and 59.08 such as textile hose-piping, transmission or conveyor
belts or belting. The language of TH 59.09 itself shows that it refers to
articles and products other than articles referred to in the Chapter. There is
H
448 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R.

A a distinction between articles and products on the one hand and textile fabrics
on the other hand as held in Jyoti Overseas.

The rules for the interpretation of the Schedule to the Central E_xcise
Tariff Act, 1985 have been framed pursuant to the powers under Section 2
of that Act. According to Rule I titles of Sections and Chapters in the Schedule
B are provided for ease of reference only. But for legal purposes, classification
"shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relevant
section or Chapter Notes". If neither the heading nor the notes suffice to
clarify the scope of a heading; then it must be construed according to the
other following provisions contained in the Rules. [Rule-I gives primacy to
C the Section and Chapter Notes along with terms of the headings. They should
be first applied.] If no clear picture emerges then only can one resort to the
subsequent rules. The appellants have' relied upon Rule 3~ Rule 3 must ·be
understood only in the context of sub-rule (b) of Rule 2 which says inter alia
that the classification of goods consisting of more than one material or
substance shall be according to the principles contained in Rule 3. Therefore
D when goods are prima facie, classifiable under .two or more headings,
classification shall be effected according to sub-rules (a), (b) and (c) of Rule
3 and in that order. The sub rules are quoted :-

(a) The heading ~hich provides the most specific description shall
be preferred to heading providing a more. general description.
E However when two or more headings each refer to part only of
the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods
or to part only of the items in a set, those headings are to be
regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if
one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the
goods.
F
(b) Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or
made up of different components, and goods put up in sets,
which cannot be classified by reference to (a), shall be classified
as if they consisted of the material or component which gives
them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
G
(c) When goods cannot be classified by reference to (a) or (b), they
shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in the
numerical order among those which equally merit consideration."

Applying the Rules of interpretation particularly Rule I, we are of the
H.
C.C.E. v. SIMPLEX MILLS CO. LTD. [RUMA PAL, J.] 449

opinion that the reasoning of the Tribunal in Jyoti Overseas is unexceptionable A
and in our opinion the decision in Sjmplex-1 was correctly overruled.

Finally it appears ~hat in· respect of other years, the Tribunal had taken
the same view as has been taken by it in the order impugned in these appeals
and classified the respondent's products under Chapters 52 and 54. No appeal
has been preferred from those decisions by the Revenue and the finding for B
those years remain unchallenged.

For these reasons, the appeals are dismissed without any order as to
costs.

S.K.S. Appeals dismissed. C