TMI Blog2010 (8) TMI 721X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... try No. 45 is absolutely clear and unambiguous, the rule of ejusdem generis can have no application. As held in Siddeshwari Cotton Mills (P) Ltd. (1989 -TMI - 42392 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA) and Grasim Industries Ltd. (2002 -TMI - 46155 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA) , the said rule has to be applied with caution and not pushed too far. The rule reflects an attempt to reconcile incompatibility between the specific and general words and applies only where the context of the enactment does not require restricted meaning to be attached to the words of general import. But, as stated above, a note of caution has been sounded by the Apex Court in this regard, namely, that the rule is to be applied with care and caution and in the absence of any indication to the contrary. In the instant case, in our view, the said rule of ejusdem generis is wholly inapplicable, no merit in the appeal. The appeal is accordingly dismissed. - S.T. Appeal No. 1 of 2008, - - - Dated:- 19-8-2010 - 2011 (273) E.L.T. 228 (Del.) A.K. Sikri and Reva Khetrapal, JJ. Shri H.C. Bhatia, Advocate, for the Appellant. Shri V. Sreedharan, Advocate, for the Respondent. [Judgment per : Reva Khetrapal, J.]. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... alt with by the respondent fall in the category of Entry 45 of the First Schedule and as such are exempt from tax. In order to fall within the ambit of the said Entry, only two conditions are required to be satisfied and both the said conditions stand satisfied in the instant case namely, (a) the goods should be religious pictures and (b) the goods should not be meant for use as calendars . Merely because the said religious pictures are mounted or framed would not disqualify them from falling within the definition of religious pictures. Furthermore, the mounted or framed religious pictures clearly could not serve the purpose of or be used as calendars in any manner. The word calendar clearly suggests that information in respect of the dates and weeks or months of an year would be reflected therefrom and since no such information is remotely available on the religious photographs, there can be no occasion for the said religious photographs to be used as calendars . Since the definition of neither religious pictures nor calendars is to be found in the Statute, the learned counsel for the respondent dwelt upon various dictionary meanings to explain the words calendar , pic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e term religion has been explained whereas we are concerned with the word religious as appearing in the term religious pictures . For that purpose it has further been explained on the same page of the book that religious is an adjective form of religion , and means an apprehension, awareness or conviction of existence of a Supreme being controlling one s destiny. 16. In this respect, we have also been taken through Volume 26 of the MACROPAEDIA New Enclopaedia Britannica 15th Edition wherein at pages from 637-646. Religious Symbolism and Iconography has been extensively explained at page 641, however Pictorial description like the one in the instant case has also been described as Religious Symbolism. On this page under the Heading of Diagrammatic and emblematic, it has been explained that - symbolic representation are usually depicted in diagrammatic or ideographic modes or signs, abbreviations, images and objects of all kinds - that indicate a larger context. Further explaining pictorial symbol in this respect i.e. the pictures of Gods, Goddesses like Lord Rama, Shiva, Parvati, Christ, Lord Buddha etc. the Ld. Counsel while taking us further through the same page has ref ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation. Likewise, the expression not for use as Calendars is, in our opinion, susceptible only to the meaning that the religious picture should not appear on a paper or page printed to show the days, weeks and months of a particular year, whether it is hung on the wall or finds a place on a table calendar. 9. We are fortified in coming to the aforesaid conclusion from the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Indo International Industries v. Commissioner of Sales Tax, Uttar Pradesh, (1981) 2 SCC 528 = 1981 (8) E.L.T. 325 (S.C.) wherein it was observed that the well-considered test in interpreting, items in a taxing Statute like the Excise Tax Acts or the Sales Tax Acts, whose primary object is to raise revenue, is that resort should be had not to the scientific or technical meaning of the terms or expressions, but to their popular meaning, i.e. to say, the meaning attached to them by those dealing in them. If any term or expression has been defined in the Statute then it must be understood in the sense in which it is defined, but in the absence of any definition given in the enactment, the meaning of the term in common parlance or commercial parlance has to be adopted. In ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lers in betel leaves were assessed to sales tax under the C.P. and Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947. They contended that under Section 6 read with the Second Schedule of the Act betel leaves were not taxable. Section 6 provided that articles mentioned in that Schedule were exempt from sales tax and articles not mentioned were taxable. There were two items in the Schedule, namely, Item 6, vegetables , and item 36, betel leaves , but subsequently item No. 36 was deleted by an amendment of the Act. This Court held that the use of two distinct and different items i.e., vegetables and betel leaves and the subsequent removal of betel leaves from the Schedule were indicative of the Legislature s intention of not exempting betel leaves from taxation. The Court laid down that the word vegetable must be interpreted not in a technical sense but in its popular sense as understood in common language i.e., denoting a class of vegetables which are grown in a kitchen garden or on a farm and are used for the table. The same principle was also laid down in His Majesty the King v. Planters Nut and Chocolate Company Limited [1951] C.L.R. 122. The question there was whether salted peanuts and cashew n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as Fry, J., said in Holt Co. v. Collyer [1881] 16 Ch. D. 718, If it is a word which is of a technical or scientific character then it must be construed according to that which is its primary meaning, namely, its technical or scientific meaning . 12. From the aforesaid dicta laid down by the Supreme Court we are of the view that the Tribunal rightly held that religious pictures imported by the respondent fall within Entry 45. Merely because the religious pictures are mounted or framed is a matter of irrelevance. The cost of the item again is irrelevant. We are supported in our view by a Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court in A. V. Venkateswaran, Collector of Customs, Bombay v. Ramchand Sobhraj Wadhwani and Anr. reported in 1983 (13) E.L.T. 1327 (S.C.). The said case debated on the rate of customs duties on fountain pens with nibs and caps plated with gold. According to the Indian Tariff Act, 1934, the said pens were Sheaffer pens imported from Australia, a consignment whereof had been received in Bombay. The Schedule to the Indian Tariff Act, 1934 has an item being Item no. 45(3) in relation to the article described as Fountain pens complete and the rate of duty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h enter into the composition of ink. The use of gold plating for nibs is therefore for increasing the utility of the nib for its primary function of writing and not with a view to enhancing its value by the cost of the metal. 13. We may also take note of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of A. Nagaraju Bros., Visakhapatnam v. State of A.P. - [1994] 95 STC 1 (S.C.) = 1994 (72) E.L.T. 801 (S.C.). The question in that appeal was whether VIP suitcases were plastic articles within the meaning of Entry 113 of the Schedule-I of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act. The Supreme Court, after noting that the suitcases may be made of leather, cloth, rexine and other material but the VIP suitcases manufactured by the assessee were made of plastic and applying the common parlance test held that these suitcases are understood to be plastic goods. The Court, however, observed : It is true that certain other material are also used in manufacturing the said suitcases and it may also be that their value is substantial - and in some cases more than the value of the plastic - but having regard to the several circumstances aforementioned and applying the common parlance test and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mes of the religious pictures in the instant case are nothing more than accessories for the safe-keeping of the religious pictures and do not give any essential characteristics to the goods. Merely because the religious pictures are mounted, it cannot be said that they are no longer religious pictures. Pictures of the divine, whether mounted, framed or otherwise would not change their intrinsic character by virtue of such mounting or framing. 15. So far as the other aspect is concerned, viz., the value of the nickel foils, it need not detain us any further in view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court that an item should be classified according to its nature and use and not on the basis of the value of its accessories. It has gone to the extent of stating that merely because the value of the accessories and other materials used is more than the value of the item itself is immaterial. Thus, in A. Nagaraju Bros. (supra) it was held that merely because the value of the suitcases including the locks and other materials used in the suitcases is more than the value of the plastic, the VIP suitcases could not be called articles made of steel or of such other material. Similarly, i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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