TMI Blog2000 (5) TMI 66X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cation in the case. Consequently, he imposed a penalty of Rs. 10 lakhs on the importer under Section 112 of the Customs Act, 1962. Invoking the provisions of the same Section, he imposed a penalty amounting to Rs. 5 lakhs each on three of the Directors of the Company. This action of the department is under challenge in these appeals. 2.Case put forth by the Company is that the imported materials are printed books which are to be classified under Heading 49.01 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 as they are books containing technical knowledge. The imported goods are eligible to get the benefit of exemption from duty as per serial No. 10 in the Table annexed to Notification No. 25/95-Cus., dated 16-3-1995. The imported materials were in 97 volumes. 23 volumes alone contained pictorial drawings/designs, while 46 volumes contained textual materials. Remaining 28 volumes were textual matters with a few drawings and designs. Therefore, they contended that the entire document could not be held to be drawings/designs in pictorial form falling under Chapter Heading 49.11 of the Customs Tariff Act. Yet another contention that was raised by the appellant was that the value of these materials i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ks. Under Income Tax Act "plant" takes within its ambit books. With reference to "books" coming under the category of plant, Courts examined the meaning of word "book". In Commissioner of Income Tax, Gujarat v. Elecon Engineering Co. Ltd. , 1974 (96) ITR 672, the High Court of Gujarat made an exhaustive survey of the word on the point and observed : "The decisions referred to above bring into limelight the point that whenever the question has arisen before courts whether a particular article or object was book, the test which was commonly applied was whether it had the physical characteristics of a book. In other words, the test applied was: Is it a collection of sheets of paper, fairly securely fastened together at one end, and protected by two covers? Is it in a book form and does it look like a book? If this test was satisfied, the article or object was held to be a book no matter that its utility was only for the person who owned it and it was not in the nature of an ordinary book available in the market. This is the very test which we too have indicated should be implied in judging whether a particular article or object is book .........." This decision was approved by th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... x Act or other statutes had no relevance while considering a provision in an excise statute. There can be no doubt about the correctness of this proposition, but the Challapalli Sugars Ltd. judgment is one in which the meaning of "actual cost', not defined under the Income Tax Act, 1922, was considered. For ascertaining what 'actual cost' was in the circumstances, this Court referred to accepted accountancy rules and said that they should be adopted and that the expression "actual value" should be construed in a sense which commercial men would understand. The judgment in Challapalli Sugars Ltd. is relevant to the instant case where we have to put a meaning to the word 'cost' which is not defined in the Act. The meaning we give should be such as accords with the meaning that a man of business put upon it, and for so doing established accountancy practice would be relevant." In the light of this statement of law and in the absence of definition of book in the Customs Act, we hold that the understanding of the word 'book' made by the High Court of Gujarat and Supreme Court must govern the issue before us. Accordingly, we come to the conclusion that the materials imported by the app ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... liable to any duty. Consequently, it is not necessary for us to go into the question as to the correctness or otherwise of the valuation of the goods as done by the authority. 10.Now the question that remains to be considered is whether the decision in Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd. v. Collector of Customs, 1993 (68) E.L.T. 234 is correct or not. The question that was dealt with by the Tribunal was whether the goods imported there could be classifiable under Heading 49.01 or whether under the residuary Heading 49.11. Importance was given to Chapter Note 4 of Chapter 49. That Note made mention of work of art or drawing. The 'drawing' used after work of art according to the Tribunal, is to be understood in accordance with the principle of noscitur a sociis. Accordingly, this Tribunal came to the conclusion : "The word 'drawings' has to be interpreted in line with the meaning of the preceding phrase 'Works of Art' which would refer to the word 'Drawings' as used in Art and not the technical/engineering drawings." This approach made by the Tribunal in the case of Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd., 1993 (68) E.L.T. 234 is unsustainable. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
