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TMI Blog1987 (1) TMI 361X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... R-3As and GP-2s under Chapter X of the Central Excise Rules, 1944. His Superintendent of Central Excise alleged that the goods were cleared free of duty under notification No. 150/77-C.E., dated 18-6-1977 which was not permissible, because under that notification only specified types of scraps were allowed clearance free of duty. He alleged that the assessees entered the goods in their AR-3As and GP-2s as butts and shorts which are specific in the notification. 2. The dispute before us, therefore, is only whether the goods described by the Collector in his order as axle cuttings and punches, and end cuttings and side cuttings are butts and shorts which qualify for exemption under notification No. 150/77-C.E. Both sides accept that the othe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on No. 150/77-C.E. and that so long as there was no dispute that this scrap was used for melting in electric furnaces for the further manufacture of ingots, no duty could be demanded in view of the exemption under the above notification. 4. After the order of the Appellate Collector of Central Excise, no more fraud can be alleged. The goods were declared as butts and shorts in the gate passes and AR-3As. 5. The learned counsel for the department said that no classification list was filed for butts and shorts and till today they have not yet done it and the learned counsels for M/s. TISCO do not tell the Bench that they have ever filed any such list. They claimed the exemption by misrepresenting their goods as butts and shorts when, in fac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No. 537/86-B1 -1987 (30) E.L.T. 442 (Tribunal) Order No. 698/83-B. He said he would like to reiterate very strongly that the clarification given by the Indian Standards Institute was given only to M/s. TISCO and not to anybody else; it is, therefore, not an admissible clarification; such a clarification should be available for general use and consumption by the trade and industry. 9. The counsel for M/s. Tata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. replied that the Indian Standards are compiled by people conversant with the products and the show cause notice was based on the Indian Standards alone. The Indian Standards represent the opinion of people who deal with these subjects. Their clarification should always be acceptable, and the present clarificati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not butts and shorts. This is the only charge against the steel factory and it is the only finding of the Collector. And in giving the facts the Collector described the goods as axle cuttings and punches and end cuttings and side cuttings of sheets; he also reproduces the IS Specification No. 1956-1962 for the definition of shorts thus : 5.100 short (cut-bar) - The portion left out after specified lengths are cut out or sheared from a long length of hot rolled product. 12. Since there was no definition of butts in Central Excise Tariff or in the Indian Standards, he took the meanings of the word in Webster's dictionary which is Thick end of weapon or tool; Thickest part of a tree trunk; A stump, thick log. He reasons that from the a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... left out portion of a bloom. In making an ingot, nothing is left out - but sometimes an ingot may have to be cut and that cut leaves the butt, the desired portion being retained for use. It is not that the undesired end or butt is a remaining end, a left out portion; there is a conscious separation of the butt from the main body by means of cutting/shearing. Therefore, the only way that an ingot butt can be obtained is by means of cutting/shearing. However, if the Collector is prepared to accept the left out portion of an ingot as a butt, he should not strain at the cut end of an axle as a butt, because it has all the characteristics of and similarity to a "thick end of weapon or tool" or the "thickest part of a tree trunk" or "a stump, thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... That leaves the time bar. The factory's counsels argue that the 3 demands were all time barred, because the periods covered February, 1982 and the months before; the demands were all issued on 15-10-1982. The Appellate Collector of Central Excise had given a ruling before these notices that the goods were butts and shorts and were entitled to the exemption. So, there can be no misdeclaration or misstatement after that. But this is not the real point. 16. The Collector announces that the allegation of deliberate misdeclaration is conclusively proved, and that he had no doubt the demand would be valid for 5 years. 17. But for that deliberate misdeclaration, which resulted in a demand for over 4.5 million rupees, the Collector imposes a pena ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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