9911796707
TMI Blog1990 (6) TMI 131X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed 30-9-1988 passed by the Collector of Central Excise, New Delhi by which he demanded duty of Rs. 10,93,638.60 in respect of steel tabular poles/electric poles for the period 1-4-1985 to 30-9-1985. The appellants herein manufacture steel tabular poles falling under Item 68 of Central Excise Tariff. The goods were considered to be falling under Item 26AA(iv) of Central Excise Tariff and are exempted from duty under Notification 69/73 till 1982 when doubt was expressed about the classification of the item and the department initiated adjudication proceedings by issue of show cause notice dated 18-12-1982 seeking to classify the item under Tariff Item 68 and raising a demand for short levy for the period 1979-80 to 8-11-1982. Ultimately, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the tariff by the Finance Act, 1983 which were given effect to from 1-8-1983. By these changes, Tariff Item 25 of Central Excise Tariff was comprehensively revised to cover all products falling in the pre-existing Tariff Items 25, 26, 26AA and 28, and as a consequence of which, the latter three items were deleted. The learned counsel pointed out that the Finance Minister, while introducing the Finance Bill, 1983, made certain observations explaining the change in the tariff relating to iron and steel items, which was to the effect that the changes were made in order to align the Central Excise Tariff, as far as these items were concerned, with the Indian Customs Tariff. The learned counsel submitted that the Indian Customs Tariff largely ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Finance Act, 1983 would not make any material difference to the case, and pointed out that in the unamended Item 26AA of Central Excise Tariff, the description was pipes and tubes (including blanks therefor) all sorts, whereas this description was modified and restricted under Item 25(15) of Central Excise Tariff after the amendments when the words all sorts had been deleted from the tariff description, and because of this restricted meaning given to the tariff entry, the electric poles manufactured by the appellants cannot fall within the purview of the tariff description under Item 25(15)-CET. As regards the relevance of the Explanatory Note to BTN, the learned SDR urged that even according to the Explanatory Notes, the appellant s cas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and steel and the insertion of Tariff Item 25(15) relating to tubes and pipes. It has been contended that after this amendment, the effect was the alignment of these items with the Customs Tariff Act which is largely based on BTN and that, therefore, the Explanatory Note to BTN against Heading 73.18 can be looked into which shows that stepped tubes are included under that heading. However, it is seen that in the amendment, the words all sorts occurring in Tariff Item 26AA(iv) had been deleted, which means that Item 25(15)-CET after amendment, was restrictive in respect of pipes and tubes, as against the Item 26AA(iv) before amendment, which covered pipes and tubes (including blanks therefor), all sorts. It has been stated that the poles ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der this heading, yet we have to note that the goods are not merely stepped tubes as they were subjected to other processes such as the bending at the top for holding the tube, welded with the base plate and cap and protective painting at bottom and top, all designed for the purpose for which the electric poles are manufactured, which are not necessary for the function of pipes and tubes as given in the Explanatory Notes to the Heading 73.18. In these circumstances, the stepped electric poles manufactured after the amendment of the tariff and Insertion of Item 25(15) in the Central Excise Tariff will not be classifiable under that item because of its restrictive scope, as already pointed out above, and because the stepped electrical poles h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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