TMI Blog2002 (8) TMI 822X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ich is a manufacturer of trucks. The exhaust pipes which are made by the petitioner to the specification given by the buyer were to be fitted into the trucks after the buyer had carried out certain further processing operation which included block setting, welding/brazing of flanges and matching components at both ends, surface treatment and red oxide painting and assembly to the engine/ chassis manufactured by the buyer. The petitioner paid taxes on exhaust pipe so supplied by it to Ashok Leyland as an item of declared goods falling under Second Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, more particularly, item 4, sub-item (xi) therein, which reads thus: "4. Iron and steel, that is to say,-.... ........... (xi) steel tubes, bo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... defined in the same dictionary, inter alia, as "a long hollow cylinder of metal, plastic, glass, etc., for holding or transporting, etc., chiefly liquids or gases........" 5.. The further submission was that if the exhaust pipe which was merely a tube of steel was capable of being regarded as "steel tube", then it would fall within the scope of entry 16 of the Second Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act. Further consequence would be, according to learned counsel, to remove that item "exhaust pipe" which is made out of steel tube from within the scope of the entries in the First Schedule, more particularly, entries therein, inter alia, dealing with "parts and accessories of motor vehicle and trailers". That submission was based ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be before and after galvanising. The court observed: "Neither its structure nor function is altered. As a commercial item it is not different from a steel tube". In the case of Bharat Forge and Press Industries (P) Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise AIR 1990 SC 616, the court considered the question as to whether pipe fittings made by a manufacturer which had purchased steel pipes and tubes in the open market, thereafter cut them into different sizes, and made them into pipe fittings in their factories by heating in a furnace, hammering and pressing, could be regarded as pipes and tubes. The Central Excise Tariff, item 26AA(iv) refers to "pipes and tubes " (including blanks therefor) all sorts, whether rolled, forged, spun, cast, drawn, an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oad description of the article fits in with the expression used in the Tariff." The court concluded that "....it is difficult to say that pipe fittings, though they may have a distinctive name, are not pipes and tubes. It is true that all pipes and tubes cannot be described as pipe fittings. But it would not be correct to say that pipe fittings are not pipes and tubes. They are only a species of pipes and tubes". 9.. In the case of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise AIR 1991 SC 1028, the court considered the case of an assessee who manufactured pipes, tubes and poles made of iron and steel supplied by it to the Telephone and Telegraph Departments of Government of India. The court rejected the submission t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ] 121 STC 396 (SC) in which it was held that State has no authority to change the character of the declared goods. The court observed: "The contention of the department is that the notification issued under section 3-A of the Act has prescribed a specific rate of tax in respect of beltings of all kinds and, therefore the cotton belting manufactured by the revisionist ceases to be a declared goods. This contention is not tenable because the State has no authority to change the character of the declared goods. If a commodity falls in the category of declared goods, as defined in section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act then the State by virtue of section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act has no authority to prescribe a higher rate of tax by ch ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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