Jyoti Balasundaram, Member (J)

1. All the above four appeals involve common issues and are hence heard together and disposed of by this common order.

2. The classification of anti-creep bearing plates manufactured by the appellants according to the specifications and design supplied by the Research, Design and Specification Organisation of the Ministry of Railways, Govt. of India as 'railway track construction material' arises for determination in Appeal Nos. E/2788/88, E/1516/91 and E/2846/91. According to the Department these bearing plates fall for classification under Heading 7302.90 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 as "other material specialised for jointing or fixing of rails" while the appellants contend that the product is to be classified under Heading 7307.10 as castings of iron and eligible to the benefit of Notification 208/83. The classification of Brake Blocks manufactured according to specifications and designs supplied by the Min. of Railways and supplied to the Indian Railways is the issue for decision in E/1517/91-according to the appellants the classification should be under Heading 73.07 while the Department has classified them under Heading 86.07 as "parts of railways or tramway locomotives or rolling stock".

3. We have heard Shri V. Lakshmi Kumaran, the learned Counsel for the appellants in all the appeals and Shri S.K. Sharma, the Ld. JDR for the Revenue and carefully considered their submissions.

4. Anti-creep bearing plates are placed between the rail and wooden sleepers and fixed to the wooden sleepers with four spikes/screws. The rails are placed between the two jaws of the bearing plates. The main purpose is to reduce the wear and tear of the sleepers and rails and to prevent what is known as "Longitudinal Creep" which occurs in the forward direction when a heavy rolling stock moves on the rails. In some cases, rails are fixed to the sleepers only with the help of spikes and bearing plates are not used.

5. The Ld. Counsel submits that bearing plates are not necessary for fixing the rails to the sleepers and their function is only to protect the sleepers and spikes from wear and tear and the bearing plates will not come under the category of material for fixing the rails as they are not so used. We see no force in this contention. The rail is fixed to sleepers through the bearing plates with spikes and the bearing plates between clamp the rail and the sleepers. As rightly contended by Shri Sharma, the Ld. DR, it is not spikes and screws alone which are to be treated as fixing material but keys, screws, spikes and bearing plates together are materials for fixing the rails. The bearing plate can rightly be regarded as special device and has been recognised in a number of technical books as a rail fixture and fastening. Few extracts are reproduced below :

(i) "Railways, theory and practice of permanent way Engineering" by Shriniwas T. Kale, published by Vishwakarma Publishers, 21, Khajuri Bazar, Indore City.

Page No. 24 : Comparison of Bull headed rail and flat footed rail:

The bull headed rail although strong with regard to better alignment has got disadvantage that special chairs and bearing plates are required to be provided for fixing the rail on the sleeper.

(ii) "Road Railway Bridge & Tunnel Engineering written by B.L. Gupta, M.Sc. (MA & H.S) M.E.(W.R.), Roorkee. Head of Civil Engineering Department, Government Polytechnic, Bikaner (Rajasthan) published by Standard Publishers Distributors, Delhi".

Page No. 57 : Fastening of Rails - The devices used to connect rails and sleepers together to form the track are known as fastening. Following devices are used as fastening to keep the rails in their correct position.