TMI Blog2005 (12) TMI 544X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e provisions of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act. In respect of the assessment year 1991-92, the petitioner claimed that the turnover relating to the sale of steel rings manufactured and marketed by them is liable to sales tax at the rate of four per cent being goods answering entry 4 of the Second Schedule to the Act. However, the assessing authority treated the goods as automobile components and levied sales tax at the rate of eight per cent under entries 3 and 111 of the First Schedule. All the statutory authorities confirmed the assessment order which included the Special Tribunal as well. The correctness of the said order is now canvassed in this writ petition before us. Mr. K. J. Chandran, learned counsel appearing for the pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ring on the basis of the purchase order placed by the customer. From the purchase order, the assessing officer concluded that the goods supplied by the petitioner are double taper rings, compressor rings, oil rings for use in manufacturing of automobiles and oil engines. The first appellate authority in his order dated November 21, 1994 in Appeal No. 383 of 1993 has given a finding to the effect that in common parlance, the goods manufactured by the appellants are called piston rings and not as steel rings and these rings are being used in petrol and diesel engines. Apart from applying the common parlance theory, he has taken into consideration improvements that have been made to the ring such as polishing and grinding. The said order has ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the TNGST Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in section 3 or 3-A the tax under this Act shall be payable by a dealer on the sale or purchase inside the State of declared goods at the rate and only at the point specified against each in the Second Schedule on the turnover in such goods in each year, whatever be the quantum of turnover in that year . Thus, section 4 has the effect of overriding the provisions in sections 3 and 3-A and also has the effect of overriding the First Schedule which is relatable to section 3. Sub-section (2) of section 3 provides that in the case of the goods mentioned in the First Schedule, the tax under this Act shall be payable by a dealer, at the rate and only at the point specified therein ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... td. v. Union of India [1987] 64 STC 180 (SC); AIR 1985 SC 1201 , has held that the process of manufacture of a product and the end use to which it is put, cannot necessarily be determinative of the classification of that product under a fiscal Schedule like the Central Excise Tariff. What is more important is whether the broad description of the article fits in with the expression used in the Tariff. The apex court further 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 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the buyer has used the steel tube supplied by the petitioner as part of chassis/engine by fitting it into such engine/chassis, for use as exhaust pipe, does not in any way alter the basic fact that what is supplied by the petitioner is in fact, a steel tube of certain shape and length. The fact that the specification for the tube or pipe supplied was given by the buyer would also make no difference as what is supplied in fact, is the steel tube conforming to the specification given by the buyer and nothing more. The sales tax levied on steel tubes supplied by the petitioner, though put to use by the buyer as exhaust pipes, cannot exceed four per cent. The Revenue relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in Rajasthan Roller Flour Mills ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ing within the purview of forging within the entry in section 14(iv)(viii). In that case, the assessee purchased silica manganese steel rods out of which elastic rail clips were manufactured and sold to the railways. Those elastic rail clips were used for holding together the sleeper and the rails on the railway track. The steel rods purchased by the assessee were cut into the required sizes, heat treated, forged, dipped in oil for quenching and twisted to manufacture the railway clips according to the specifications of the railways. The elastic rail clip is S shaped. As various processes are involved in the manufacture of elastic rail clips and on those facts of the case the division Bench has held that the elastic rail clips cannot b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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