2026-VIL-1642-CESTAT-CHE-CU
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CUSTOMS CESTAT Cases

Customs – Classification of Silver-based Electrical Contacts as Parts of Electrical Apparatus, Waiver of show cause notice and personal hearing at adjudication stage – Appellant imports Rivet Mobile Contact, sealed cartridge assemblies with silver composition of 99.116 per cent. Goods were self-assessed and declared under CTI 85389000. During examination, jewellery expert opined on silver content, leading to reclassification under CTI 71141120 as precious metal articles. Appellant sought expedited adjudication without show cause notice or personal hearing - In subsequent imports, appellant self-assessed under alternative tariff codes then appealed seeking classification under CTH 8538 – Whether appeals against self-assessed bills of entry without departmental reassessment are maintainable, and whether goods should be classified as precious metal articles or as electrical contacts – HELD – Appeals are maintainable and waiver of procedural safeguards does not extinguish statutory right to appeal under Section 128 - A self-assessed bill of entry is an order of assessment appealable under the Act; absence of departmental reassessment does not render appeal non-maintainable - Waiver of SCN and personal hearing at adjudication stage operates at different stage from appeal and serves different purpose; such waiver cannot without more be read as implied surrender of right to appeal - Further, Board's Circular directs that SCN must not be waived where legal questions of serious nature are involved, and classification disputes involving technical composition and Chapter Notes fall within such cases - Rivet Mobile Contact is classifiable as electrical contact under Heading 8538, not as precious metal article. Where Revenue seeks to classify goods under heading different from that claimed by assessee, burden rests on Revenue to establish that departure. Revenue's sole material is opinion of jewellery expert regarding silver content, which goes no further than composition and does not address legal question whether goods stand excluded from Chapter 71 by Chapter Note 3(k) and Explanatory Note (d) to Heading 71.15 which exclude electrical contacts - Opinion of technical expert is confined to compositional analysis and cannot determine tariff classification, which is matter for proper officer and appellate authorities - Goods are manufactured to customer's specific drawing, not of standard type usable for other purposes, and are assembled into Moving Contact as part of connectors, switches and relays—uncontroverted evidence of dedicated design and end use. Classification of composite article follows component that gives it essential character and not ingredient that predominates in quantity. Silver serves as electrically conductive material of contact; it does not detract from but subserves the essential character of the Rivet Mobile Contact. Metal contacts designed for switching, protecting circuits or making connections are classifiable under Heading 8538 as parts notwithstanding their precious metal content - Rivet Mobile Contact classifiable under CTH 8538. Confiscation, redemption fine and penalty premised on earlier classification cannot survive – The appeals are allowed
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GST & Customs updates: Sep'26
By CA Vivek Jalan

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