TMI Blog1984 (2) TMI 97X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pellate Assistant Commissioner having failed, the matter was taken on appeal to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal. 3. Before the Tribunal the assessees filed a petition stating that the sum of Rs. 1,08,668.44 is a mistake for Rs. 4,59,102.71. The Tribunal did not, however accept this plea based on a mistake or error. Therefore the Tribunal proceeded on the basis that the disputed turnover under the State Act is only Rs. 1,08,668.44. Dealing with the merits, the Tribunal held that pile carpets will not fall under item 21 of the First Schedule to the Central Excise tariff and that consequently it will not fall under item 4 of the Third Schedule to the State Act. The Tribunal had placed reliance on an order of the Government of India, Ministry of Finance dated <?xml:namespace prefix = st2 /> 14th April, 1972 holding that carpets manufactured by Bharat Carpets Limited will not fall under item 21 of the Central Excise Tariff. The Tribunal thus rejected the assessees' case that notwithstanding the said order of the Government of India, pile carpets should be treated as woollen fabrics. The view of the Tribunal has been challenged by the assessees in these cases contending that as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... xcises and Salt Act reads as follows : "21. 'Woollen fabrics' means all varieties of fabrics manufactured wholly of wool or which contain 40 per cent or more by weight of wool and includes blankets, lohis, rugs, shawls and embroidery in the piece in strips or in motifs." 6. The above item refers to cloth made of wool, i.e., material used for covering or wrapping the body of humans. The word "fabric" normally means manufactured cloth, but the definition in item 21 takes in a few more items such as bedding materials by specifically including them within the definition. By using the principle of "noscitur a sociis" the term can be interpreted to refer only to materials used for covering the body of humans or for use along with bedding, and carpets are usually intended to cover only flooring or staircases. They cannot be used as garments for humans or for their bedding. Thus carpets cannot come within the scope of item 21 of the Central Excises and Salt Act. At this stage it is significant to note that M/s. Bharat Carpets who had manufactured the carpets sold by the assessee were assessed to excise duty in respect of the carpets manufactured by them treating them as coming under it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ire or leather scrips, as the Collector has opined, where there is some kind of weaving of warp and weft, to bonding. Even the warp and weft may not be a necessary ingredient in a fabric as in the case of felted fabrics; yet an essential factor would be that the fibres are laid one upon the other. If this criterion is applied, the sort of tufting that is done in the carpeting in question would not constitute a base fabric of wool. On the other hand, the base fabric in this case is of jute. The tufting or raising of the pile would be similar to embroidering if that has been done in patches and flowery designs, in which case the percentage of wool content to be determined would have to be in relation to the base fabric only. The proviso to tariff item 21 reads as follows: 'Provided that in the case of embroidery in the pieces, in strips or motifs, the percentage referred to above shall be in relation to the base fabrics which are embroidered.' The explanation under this very item reads as follows: ' Explanation I. - "Base fabrics" means fabrics falling under sub-item (1) of this item, which are subjected to the process of embroidery.' Thus it would be seen that the tariff it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s been used to mean woven material in which sense it is popularly understood, and blankets, rugs and shawls, etc., have been specifically included in the entry out of abundant caution to indicate that 'woollen fabrics' in entry 21 means not only woollen garments but also woollen material used as covering or for similar other purposes...." 10. In Porrits Spencer (Asia) Ltd. v. State of Haryana - 1983 E.L.T. 1607 (SC) = (1978) 42 STC 433 the Supreme Court had to consider the word "textiles" occurring in item 30 of Schedule B of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948. In that case it was held that the dryer felts made out of cotton or woollen yarn by the process of weaving according to the warp and woof pattern and commonly used as absorbents of moisture in the process of manufacture in paper manufacturing units fall within the ordinary and common parlance meaning of the word "textiles". The Supreme Court observed that the word "textiles" in item 30 of Schedule B must be interpreted according to its popular sense, meaning that sense which people conversant with the subject-matter with which the statute is dealing would attribute to it and that "textiles" normally means woven fabr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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