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1996 (8) TMI 105

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..... the appeal and set aside the impugned order. - Appeal Civil 3035 of 1979 - - - Dated:- 6-8-1996 - S.P. Bharucha and K.T. Thomas, JJ. [Judgment per : Thomas, J.]. - This appeal by special leave is in challenge of an order passed by the Government of India, in exercise of their revisional power under the Customs Act, 1962 (for short the Act). As per the impugned order Government annulled the order passed by the Appellate Collector of Customs in favour of the appellant on 6-12-1978. 2.Facts are, in brief, these : Appellant firm has a factory for manufacturing sewing machines and accessories at Faridabad, with an approved capacity for making both domestic as well as industrial sewing machines. Appellant imports components fo .....

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..... for appropriate directions. Notice was served on the Central Government. They proposed to review the order for which a notice was given to the appellant to show cause why it should not be reviewed. Appellant submitted its detailed reply. Central Government after hearing the appellant passed the impugned order. 4.Appellate Collector concurred with the importer's stand that the components were intended for industrial sewing machines on the strength of a variety of reasons and on its own satisfaction when the difference was demonstrated before him, during the time of hearing. He noticed that the rotating hook in the industrial machine had higher speed than the domestic sewing machine and if the rotating pin of the industrial sewing ma .....

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..... tem 84.41 of the Customs Tariff Schedule, which was brought into force on 1-1-1977, read thus : 84.41 Sewing machines; furniture specially designed for sewing machines; sewing machine needles : 40%- (1) Not elsewhere specified 100% . - (2) Domestic sewing machines If the imported components were for domestic sewing machines then the Central Government is right in insisting on the customs duty realised from the appellant. The language in which the item in the schedule is couched indicates that one category relates to a specific specie i.e. domestic sewing machines , and the other is a general category i.e. not elsewhere specified . Apparently the burden is on the revenue if they want to include the imported materials within th .....

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..... otors of 1/4 H.P. or more would fall outside the scope of term `domestic sewing machines'. Much reliance is sought to be made on this circular. The only conclusion that can be arrived at, if the said circular has any use, is that the imported materials in this case are usable for industrial sewing machines. 10.Shri Joseph Vellapally, learned senior Counsel who argued for the respondents, contended that classification as for tariff cannot be determined on the basis of what the Collectors of Central Excise Customs or even what the Board of Central Excise and Customs would have thought about it because it is a legislative process and its interpretation should be in accordance with law. We cannot overlook the said circular which is, a .....

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..... electrical appliances mentioned in Explanation 1 of Tariff Item 33(c) which was in force at the relevant time. Their Lordships referred to an earlier decision of the Gujarat High Court in Viswa Co. v. State of Gujarat (17 STC 581) in which Bhagwati, J. (as the learned Chief Justice then was) has observed that to make an electrical appliance a domestic electric appliance what is necessary is that it must be of a kind which is generally used for household work . But in this case there is no material to show that a sewing machine fitted with the type of components imported by the appellant is generally used in household work. 13.We find that the observations made by the Special Bench of CEGAT in Para Engineering Works, New Delhi v. Coll .....

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