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2014 (4) TMI 294 - HC - VAT and Sales TaxRate of tax - Classification of Industrial cables - Did the Tribunal fall into an error in interpreting Entry 40 Schedule-III of the Delhi VAT Act, 2004 in holding that the HSN/CET nomenclature in the circulars issued on 16.09.2005, 17.02.2006 and 20.03.2006 would prevail – Held that:- It was noticed that the express terms of the statute clearly referred to ‘industrial cables’ including other categories of industrial cables such as ‘Industrial Cables/High Voltage Cables, XLPE, Jelly filled Cables, Optical Fibres’ - The circulars in fact add to and also substitute from the main heading “industrial cables” - This is because the Entry nowhere refers to any heading of the CET - Having not done so, the department appears to even cut down the amplitude of the description “industrial cables” by excluding non-industrial cables or wires of a certain width in the last circular No.51 of 2005-06. Relying upon Commissioner of Sales Tax v. Dev Enterprises Ltd. [2011 (6) TMI 657 - BOMBAY HIGH COURT] which referred Green Flashlight Industries Ltd. v. Union of India [1984 (8) TMI 85 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] and O.K. Play (India) Limited v. Commissioner of Central Excise [2005 (2) TMI 114 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA] held that where the statute expressly refers or alludes to other instruments or documents such as CET/HSN classifications, then alone would those classifications have to be looked into for the purposes of interpretation - In the absence of such express reference – in the parent statute – the reference through a circular, cannot guide the plain and commercial parlance meaning of the expression attributed to the article or goods in question. When there is clear guidance by the statute i.e. the DVAT Act as to in respect of which articles or goods the HSN and CET would have to be referred as part of the statute, it is not logical to import, for the purpose of interpretation, HSN/CET references to articles of goods which do not contain any such references - Here “the common parlance test is applicable” - The Indian Electricity Act and the Electricity Supply Act as well as the Rules and Regulations under these enactments would guide and regulate the technical aspects which traders and those dealing with these articles understand - When the statutory determination itself having classified 1100 volts cables as high voltage cables, No difficulty in accepting that the subject goods are industrial cables and are classifiable under Entry No.40 of the Schedule-III – The appeal, therefore, is allowed - Decided in favour of assessee.
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