9911796707
TMI Blog1969 (11) TMI 71X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at the rate specified therein which at the material time was 2 per cent. For the assessment years 1962-63 and 1963-64 the rate of tax was enhanced to 3 per cent. on the view that steel trunks fall within the definition of "hardware" which was a commodity assessable at a higher rate. The assessee appealed and the Judge (Appeals) accepted its contention that steel trunks were not an item of hardware. The Commissioner of Sales Tax went up in revision, but the revising authority also upheld the order of the judge (Appeals). At the instance of the Commissioner of Sales Tax the revising authority has now submitted this and the connected reference. Before we proceed to answer the question we would like to make a few observations about the state ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to whether steel trunks in general could be regarded as hardware or not. We would have been justified in returning this reference unanswered but since the question of law involved is of a recurring nature and is of general public importance, we have thought it fit to gather the material facts from the various orders of the sales tax authorities, to reframe the question and to answer it after ascertaining the relevant statutory provisions. Section 3 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act is the charging section under which turnover of all commodities is taxed at the rate specified therein. The rate of tax at the material time was 2 per cent. Under a proviso to section 3 the State Government has been invested with the power to enhance the rate of tax on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re of trunks were exclusively of steel and no iron sheets were utilised. According to him, steel and iron are not the same commodity. He invited our attention to the Hindi version of various notifications issued under the Act to show that in Hindi "steel" is called "spat" while "iron" is, called "loha". His contention is that while iron may be a base metal, steel is not. We do not think the distinction pointed out by the learned counsel is either real or important. The word "base" when used as an adjective with a metal has a technical meaning. Metal is a class of elements of which gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are examples or a mixture of these (alloy). In inorganic chemistry metals are divided into two classes: (1) base metals a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... heir alloy like brass etc. The meaning in the Shorter English Oxford Dictionary approximates to this popular meaning. There the term "hardware" means "small wares or goods of metal, ironmongery." Learned counsel for the parties were agreed that in order to ascertain the true scope of the term "hardware", as understood in the commercial world, it would be helpful to look into some trade journals and catalogues of hardware items. Our attention was accordingly drawn to some trade journals like "British Empire Trade Index" and the "Bombay Market". We were also shown catalogues of some leading hardware merchants and the classified list in the telephone directories of the State of Uttar Pradesh. A perusal of these documents shows: (i) that hard ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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