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2009 (9) TMI 1038 - HC - Indian LawsGrant of concessional rates to magazines - advertisement in the Reader's Digest issue - HELD THAT:- The advertisement in question was by Canara Bank. It was contended in that said case that "the petitioner collected the advertisement, printed it, put it at a proper place in the magazine, bound the magazine and distributed the magazine." It was observed that the advertisement had been printed for the advertiser, namely the Canara Bank and then had been sent to the publisher, i.e., Reader's Digest, for distribution. Therefore, Clause I of the note below Clause 132 of the Post Office Guide (Corresponding to Clause 139 referred to hereinbefore) was attracted. As regards the numbering of the pages it was found that they were numbered as 148 c, etc. and therefore if the pages were pulled out, it did not detract from the value of the magazine. However, it was clarified that if the pages had been numbered consecutively it would not infringe note (i). We turn to the impugned advertisement itself. The first page of the advertisement indicates the page number as 55 and at the bottom it is clearly printed: "Reader's Digest/December 2005". Although the other pages of the Calendar 2006 are not consecutively numbered, the last page indicates the page number as 82 and again at the bottom carries the words "Reader's Digest/December 2005". This, therefore, conforms to the requirement of the clarification issued by the department on 25/28.06.1999. In the impugned letter dated 21.11.2005 written by the department declining the concessional tariff it is merely stated that the calendar did not conform to the conditions contained in the letter dated 09.10.2001. That letter had stated that "advertisement will be numbered in running numerical sequence and will also have the name of the issue, month printed in the prominent position". The specific conditions listed out in this letter have already been extracted in para 3 hereinbefore. This Court does not find any of them having been violated as far as the present case is concerned. Further the need for numbering each page of the advertisement was already dispensed with by the department itself in its clarificatory circular dated 25/28.06.1999. This Court finds that the advertisement in question forms part of the December 2005 issue of Reader's Digest and the pages of the advertisement have been expressly included in the total number of pages of the said issue. The first and last page of the advertisement is in sequence with the overall pagination of the issue. The name of the magazine and issue month is printed in a prominent position both in the first and last page of the magazine. Further to remove any doubts the readers have been informed in page 1 of the issue that the issue includes the Toyota advertisement which is at pages 55 to 82 of the magazine. Accordingly, this Court finds no ground to interfere with the impugned judgment of the learned single Judge. The appeal is accordingly dismissed. In the considered view of this Court, the impugned advertisement is in conformity with the requirement of the law as explained by the circulars issued by the department itself. Consequently, there is no merit in the appeal. It is dismissed.
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