COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, AHMEDABAD versus SOLID & CORRECT ENGINEERING WORKS & ORS.

Citation: [2010] 4 S.C.R. 476 · Decided: 08-04-2010 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: D.K. JAIN

Cited by 2 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
[2010] 4 S.C.R. 476 
COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, AHMEDABAD 
v. 
SOLID & CORRECT ENGINEERING WORKS & ORS. 
(Civil Appeal Nos. 960-966 of 2003 etc.) 
APRIL 8, 2010 
[D.K. JAIN AND T.S. THAKUR, JJ.] 
Central Excise Act, 1944- s. 2 (d)- Setting up of Asphalt 
Drum Mix Plant by using duty paid components - Whether 
C amounts to manufacture of 'exigible goods' - Held: Setting 
of the plant does not amount to manufacture of 'exigib/e 
goods' as the same is not permanently fixed in earth. 
Notification - Notification No. 1193-CE, dated 28th 
0 February, 1993 - Issued u/s. 5A(1) of Central Excise Act -
Benefit under - Entitlement of, to manufacturers of parts and 
components used for setting up Asphalt Drum/Hot Mix Plant. 
E 
Maxim -
'quidcquid plantatur solo, solo-cedit' -
Applicability of. 
Words and Phrases - ' Moveable property' - Meaning 
of - Transfer of Property Act, 1882 - s. 3 - General Clauses 
Act, 1897 - s. 3(26). 
F 
The questions for consideration before this Court 
were whether setting up of an Asphalt Drum Mix Plant by 
using duty paid components tantamounts to manufacture 
of excisable goods within the meaning of Section 2(d) of 
the Central Excise Act, 1944; and whether the 
respondents engaged in the manufacture of parts and 
G components used for setting up of Asphalt Drum/Hot Mix 
Plant were entitled to the benefit of Notification No.1/93-
CE, dated 28th February, 1993 issued under sub-section 
(1) of Section 5A of the Act, as amended from time to time. 
H 
476 
COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, AHMEDABAD v. 477 
SOLID & CORRECT ENGG. WORKS 
Allowing the appeals and remanding the matters A 
back to the Tribunal, the Court 
HELD: 1.1. Once a machine is fixed, embedded or 
assimilated in a permanent structure, the movable 
character of the machine becomes extinct. The same 8 
cannot thereafter be treated as moveable so as to be 
dutiable under the Excise Act. But cases in which there 
is no assimilation of the machine with the structure 
permanently, would stand on a different footing. In the 
instant case all that has been said by the assessee is that C 
the machine is fixed by nuts and bolts to a foundation not 
because the intention was to· permanently attach it to the 
earth but because a foundation was necessary to 
provide a wobble free operation to the machine. An 
attachment of this kind without the necessary intent of 
making the same permanent, cannot constitute D 
permanent fixing, embedding or attachment in the sense 
that would make the machine a part and parcel of the 
earth permanently. In that view of the matter, it is held that 
the plants in question were not immovable property so 
as to be immune from the levy of excise duty. [Para 33] 
E 
[496-D-G] 
Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd. and Anr. v. 
Commissioner of Central Excise 2000 (120) ELT 273 {SC); 
Quality Steel Tubes (P) Ltd. v. CCE, U.P. 1995 (75) ELT 17 
F 
·{SC); Mittal Engineering Works (P) Ltd. v. CCE, Meerut 1996 
(88) ELT 622 (SC); T. T.G. Industries Ltd. v. CCE, Raipur 
2004 (167) ELT 501 {SC) - distinguished. 
Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd. v. Collector of Central Excise, 
Hyderabad 1998 (1) SCC 400; Mis Name Tulaman 
G 
Manufacturers Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad v. Collector of Central 
Excise, Hyderabad 1989 (1) SCC 172, relied on. 
1.2. The manufacture of the plants in question do not 
constitute annexation hence cannot be termed as 
H 
478 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2010] 4 S.C.R. 
A immovable property for the following reasons: (i) The 
plants in question are not per se immovable property. (ii) 
Such plants cannot be said to be "attached to the earth" 
within the meaning of that expression as defined in 
Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act. (iii) The fixing 
B of the plants to a foundation is meant only to give stability 
to the plant and keep its operation vibration free. (iv) The 
setting up of the plant itself is not intended to be 
permanent at a given place. The plant can be moved and 
is indeed moved after the road construction or repair 
c project for which it is set up is completed. [Para 24] [491-
D-G] 
' 
1.3. The expression "attached to the earth" has three 
distinct dimensions, viz. (a) rooted in the earth as in the 
case of trees and shrubs (b) imbedded in the earth as in 
D the case of walls or buildings or (c) attached to what is 
imbedded for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of that 
to which it is attached. Attachment of the plant in question 
with the help of nuts and bolts to a foundation not more 

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