1971 (1) TMI 51

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..... passenger buses. These bodies are fitted with seats made of wood and steel. With effect from March 1, 1968 excise duty was levied on "steel furniture made partly or wholly of steel, in or in relation to the manufacture of which any process is ordinarily carried on with the aid of power, whether in assembled or unassembled condition." This item was inserted as Item 40 in the First Schedule to the .....

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..... ritten statement has been filed in which two preliminary objections have been taken that is, a joint petition on behalf of two dealers is not competent as separate notices were issued to each of them. The second objection is that the petitioners should have availed of the statutory remedy so that the departmental authorities could have determined on facts whether the seats fitted in the bodies of .....

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..... s furniture and the petitioner is liable to pay the duty in respect thereof. It is correctness of this decision that has been challenged in the writ petition. 5. The word `furniture' has not been defined by the Legislature. We have, therefore, to determine whether the seats fitted in the buses amount to furniture or not. `Furniture' is derived from the word `furnish' is to supplement something or .....

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..... can be used as furniture, does not furnish any criterion to determine whether the seats, when fixed to the bodies, of buses by the petitioner amount to furniture or not. I may repeat that when building the body for a bus, the petitioner builds these seats just like the other parts of the body of the bus like roof and other things. The body of the bus is not complete unless the seating facility or .....

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..... h effect from April, 30, 1968 and not from March, 1, 1968. 6. For the persons given above, I accept this writ petition and quash the order, copy of which is Annexure `E' to the writ petition and hold that the petitioner is not liable to pay any duty on the seats manufactured by it for the passenger buses. There is, however, no order as to costs.  
Case laws, Decisions, Judgements, Order .....

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