LexPIECO ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICALS LTD. versus COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL EXCISE, PUNE
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
A
PIECO ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICALS LTD.
v.
COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL EXCISE, PUNE
OCTOBER 24, 1996
B
(S.P. BHARUCHA AND S.C. SEN, JJ.]
Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1931, s.3 r/w Central Excise Tariff,
Entry 15 A, Entry 68-Whether declaration as to enforceability of amendment
forthwith applied to goods exigi,ble to excise duty but exempt from payment of
C duty-Held, no; there was neither fresh imposition nor increase of excise duty
by the amendment and therefore, declaration would not apply.
The appellants manufactured plastic piece parts such as radio
cabinets and knobs which fell within entry 15A(2) of the Central Excise
Tariff. However, these were exempt under a separate notification from
D payment of excise duty. By the Finance Bill, 1982 ['Bill'], introduced on
February 27, 1982, Entry 15A(2) was proposed to be amended whereby the
plastic pieces fell outside the scope of that entry and became exigible to
duty under Entry 68. The Bill contained a declaration as required by s.3
of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 ('Act') bringing the amend·
E ment into effect one day after the Bill was introduced in Parliament..
The appellants contended that by virtue of the said declaration, the
amended Entry 15A(2) had come into operation on February 28, 1982.
From that day the plastic piece parts fell outside the ambit of that Entry
and were liable to excise duty under Entry 68. The Tribunal came to the
F
conclusion that the plastic piece parts continued to remain under Entry
15A(2) until the enactment of the said Bill on April 19, 1982, whereupon
they become classifiable under Entry 68.
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H
Dismissing the appeal, this Court
HELD : 1.1. The plastic piece parts being exigible to excise duty even
under the unamended Entry 15A but being exempt from payment by reason
· uf the notification, there was no "imposition" of excise duty upon them and
they became liable thereto under Entry 68 only when the Bill was enacted
and not from February 28, 1982, the date mentioned in the declaration.
[668·A·B]
664
}
, , riLECIRON!CSAND ELECTRICAI.Sv. ffilLECIOROF C.E. [BHARUCHAJ.j 665
1.2. Where, by reason of a Bill the customs or excise statute is to be A
amended either to impose duty for the fist time or, where it is already
imposed, to increase it, the declaration under the Act made the imposition
or increase effective upon the introduction of the Bill. The Act does not
take account of exemption notifications for they apply only when goods are
exigihle to duty but, thereby, the payment of duty or a part thereof is B
exempted. [667-G-H]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 488 of
1986.
From the Judgment and Order dated 29.8.85 and 6.9.85 of the C
Customs Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi in
A.No. ED (SE) T.A. No. 484/83-C (Order No. 642/85-C.)
M.S. Ganesh, R. Narain, S. Narain and Ashok Sagar for the Appel-
!ant.
D
R. Mohan, T.V. Ratnam and R.B. Misra for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BHARUCHA, J. This appeal relates to the Provisional Collection of
Taxes Act, 1931.
E
The appellants manufacture plastic piece parts such as radio
cabinets, knobs, etc. The plastic piece parts fell within the scope of Entry
15A(2) of the Central Excise Tariff, but they enjoyed the benefit of
exemption from payment of excise duty under an Exemption Notification
(no. 68/71).
F
The Finance Bill, 1982, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 27th
February, 1982. It proposed, in clause (49), the amendment of the First
Schedule to the Central Excises Act in the manner specified in the Third
Schedule thereto. Entry 15A was proposed to be amended.
Clause 2 of the proposed amendment, with which we are concerned,
read thus:
"(2) Article of material described in sub-Item
(i), the following namely :
G
H
666
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 7 S.C.R.
A
Boards, sheeting, sheets films, whether Fifty per cent ad
lacquered or metalised or laminated or not; lay valorem."
B
c
that tubings not containing any textile material.
The plastic piece parts fell outside the scope of Entry 15A(2) as
proposed to be amended, and within the scope of the residuary Entry 68.
The said Bill contained the following declaration :
"Declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931.
It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest
that the provisions of clauses 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52 and
53 of this BillExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.