Customs Tariff Act| Laser Imager Is "Accessory" Having No Diagnostic Capabilities; Can Be Brought Under Residuary Heading: Supreme Court

The appeal before the Apex Court was filed by an importer, Carestream Health India Pvt. Ltd, under Section 130E(b) of the Customs Act, 1962, questioning the concurrent findings as to the tariff heading under which the said laser imagers should be classified.

The Division Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva held, “At the outset, we are not persuaded to agree with the appellant’s contention that the laser imager is a ‘diagnostic apparatus’ in its own right. Admittedly, the laser imager has no diagnostic skill or capability of its own and must necessarily receive inputs from diagnostic equipment to carry out its function of printing films. In effect, it is an ‘accessory’ to the diagnostic equipment from which it receives inputs, as it then transfers the same onto films. CTH 9018 90 19 admittedly applies only to ‘other diagnostic instruments and apparatus’, i.e., either ‘diagnostic instruments’ or ‘diagnostic apparatus’. As the laser imager has no diagnostic capabilities of its own, it cannot per se be classified under this heading.”

“In consequence, accessories suitable for use with a number of machines, instruments or apparatus falling under the same tariff heading would have to be classified with such machines, instruments or apparatus, but when such accessories are suitable for use not only with machines, instruments or apparatus under a particular tariff heading but also with machines, instruments or apparatus falling under another tariff heading, they would necessarily have to be brought under residuary CTH 9033 00 00, being accessories suitable for use with machines, appliances, instruments or apparatus falling under Chapter 90, which have not been specified or included under a particular tariff heading”, it added.

AOR Charanya Lakshmikumaran represented the Appellant while Additional Solicitor General Raghvendra P. Shankar represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

Carestream Health India Pvt. Ltd, the appellant, imported ‘Dryview 6850 Laser Imagers W/3D’ from China and classified them under the Customs Tariff Heading (CTH) 9018 90 19 in Chapter 90 of Section XVIII of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Section XVIII is titled ‘Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof’. Chapter 90 is titled ‘Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof’. The appellant claimed that its laser imagers would qualify as ‘Other diagnostic instruments and apparatus’ under CTH 9018 90 19. However, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Chennai, rejected such classification by Order-in-Original and directed their re-classification under CTH 9033 00 00 as accessories not specified or included elsewhere in Chapter 90 for machines, appliances, instruments or apparatus of that chapter.

Aggrieved thereby, the appellant filed an Appeal before the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), Chennai, but the same was dismissed. Assailing the said order, the appellant approached the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, South Zone Bench, Chennai, by way of a Customs Appeal, but the same was dismissed. It was in such circumstances that the appeal came to be filed before the Apex Court.

Reasoning

The Bench, at the outset, refused to agree with the appellant’s contention that the laser imager is a ‘diagnostic apparatus’ in its own right. The Bench explained that the laser imager has no diagnostic skill or capability of its own and must necessarily receive inputs from diagnostic equipment to carry out its function of printing films. It was also noticed that CTH 9018 90 19 admittedly applies only to ‘other diagnostic instruments and apparatus’ and the laser imager cannot be classified under this heading.

Considering that the laser imagers do not directly fall under CTH 9018 90 19 or any other heading in CTH 9018, the Bench held that the only avenue for CTH 9018 to be applied to them, as parts or accessories, would be by way of the ‘Notes’ in Chapter 90. The Bench mentioned that Rule 2(a) would not have application to the laser imagers in question as they are not goods included in any of the headings of Chapter 90 or of the other chapters mentioned therein.

The Bench further found that the laser imagers are compatible with CT apparatus, falling under CTH 9022 12 00; X-ray generators and apparatus (non-portable), falling under CTH 9022 14 10; Portable X-ray machines, falling under CTH 9022 14 20; and also with apparatus based on the use of alpha, beta, gamma or other ionising radiation, whether or not for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses, including radiography or radiotherapy apparatus; for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses, falling under CTH 9022 21 00.

The Bench thus upheld the interpretation placed upon Rule 2(b) by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, South Zone Bench, Chennai and concluded that when accessories are suitable for use not only with machines, instruments or apparatus under a particular tariff heading but also with machines, instruments or apparatus falling under another tariff heading, they would necessarily have to be brought under residuary CTH 9033 00 00.

Considering such facts, circumstances and legal aspects, the Bench dismissed the appeal.

Cause Title: M/S. Carestream Health India Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs (Neutral Citation: 2026 INSC 837)

Appearance

Appellant: AOR Charanya Lakshmikumaran, Advocates L. Badri Narayanan, Neha Choudhary, Nitum Jain, Medha Sinha, Swastik Mishra, Adithya Nair, Yashovardhan Singh, Ananya Gupta

Respondent: Additional Solicitor General Raghvendra P. Shankar, AOR Gurmeet Singh Makker, Advocates B.K. Satija, Adarsh Kumar Pandey, Pallavi Mishra, Rajeshwari Shankar

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