Supreme Court Rules Multi-Laser Imagers Classifiable Under CTH 9033 00 00

Background of the Dispute

Carestream Health India Pvt. Ltd. imported certain medical imaging equipment described as ‘Dryview 6850 Laser Imagers W/3D’ from China under a Bill of Entry dated 02.04.2013. The assessee declared the goods under CTH 9018 90 19, claiming that they were “Other diagnostic instruments and apparatus” under Chapter 90 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

The Customs Department disagreed and reclassified the goods under CTH 9033 00 00, described as:

“Parts and accessories (not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter) for machines, appliances, instruments or apparatus of Chapter 90.”

This reclassification triggered an additional customs duty of 2.5%, resulting in a differential duty demand of ₹5,21,616/-.

After the assessee lost before:

  • The Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Chennai (Order-in-Original dated 24.06.2013),
  • The Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), Chennai (Order-in-Appeal dated 10.03.2014), and
  • The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, South Zone Bench, Chennai (Final Order dated 21.08.2024),

the matter reached the Supreme Court of India under Section 130E(b) of the Customs Act, 1962 in the case of Carestream Health India Pvt. Ltd. Vs Commissioner of Customs.

The core controversy:
Should these laser imagers be classified under CTH 9018 90 19 as “other diagnostic instruments and apparatus” or under the residuary heading CTH 9033 00 00 as “parts and accessories” of Chapter 90 equipment?

Nature and Function of the Imported Laser Imagers

Technical Description

The equipment in question is a laser imager, essentially a specialised medical printer which:

  • Uses photo-thermographic (dry laser) technology to produce images on medical films.
  • Receives digital image data from various diagnostic modalities such as:
    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),
    • Computed Tomography (CT),
    • Full-Field Digital Mammography (FFDM),
    • Digital Radiology (DR),
    • Computed Radiography (CR),
    • Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS),
    • Digital Fluoroscopy, and
    • Other grayscale film applications.

Functional Role

The Supreme Court emphasised that the laser imager:

  • Does not itself perform any diagnostic analysis,
  • Does not generate or process patient data independently,
  • Merely accepts output from diagnostic equipment and prints that data onto films.

Accordingly, the Court viewed the imager as support equipment used in conjunction with diagnostic machines, rather than as diagnostic machinery in its own right.

Competing Classification Claims

Assessee’s Position

The assessee argued that:

  1. The laser imager must be treated as an apparatus used for medical diagnostic purposes, not as a mere accessory or part.

  2. It is used alongside several machines falling under CTH 9018, which covers:

    “Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences including scientigraphic apparatus, other electromedical apparatus and sight-testing instruments – Electro-diagnostic apparatus (including apparatus for functional exploratory examinations or for checking physiological parameters).”

  3. Since it is functionally linked to multiple diagnostic machines under CTH 9018, it should be placed under CTH 9018 90 19, the residuary item for “Other diagnostic instruments and apparatus”.

  4. They also attempted to rely on Notification No. 12/2012-Customs dated 17.03.2012, particularly Sl. No. 473, which prescribed a concessional rate of 5% customs duty for goods used for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary purposes falling under CTH 9018, 9019, 9020, 9021, 9022.

Revenue’s Stand

The Department contended that:

  1. The laser imager is not a diagnostic apparatus, but an accessory that works with several diagnostic machines.

  2. The imager is compatible not only with equipment under CTH 9018, but also with devices under CTH 9022, which covers:

    “Apparatus based on the use of X-rays or of alpha, beta, gamma or other ionising radiations, whether or not for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary uses, including radiography or radiotherapy apparatus…”

  3. Given that the imagers can work with multiple machines covered by different tariff headings (9018 and 9022), they cannot be covered under Note 2(b) of Chapter 90; instead, Note 2(c) applies, pushing them to CTH 9033 00 00.