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TMI Blog2011 (3) TMI 1422X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... decay would not come within the purview of sub-rule (d) of section 22 (4) of the Act and the order of the Tribunal is modified only to that extent, writ-petitioners that the learned Tribunal below made wrong interpretation of the phrase "consumable stores" and wrongly granted benefit to the respondents, writ-application disposed of - WPTT No. 61 of 2010 - - - Dated:- 11-3-2011 - Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Sambuddha Chakrabarti, JJ. Seba Roy and Soma Kar Ghosh for the Petitioner L.K. Gupta and Sumit Ghosh, J.P. Khaitan, Sumit Chakraborty and Swapna Das for the Respondent Bhaskar Bhattacharya, J This application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is at the instance of the State of West Bengal and is directed against order dated 20th November, 2009 passed by the West Bengal Taxation Tribunal in R.N. 271 of 2008 and R.N. 461 of 2008 which were heard analogously and disposed of by a common judgment. In the above two proceedings before the Tribunal constituted under Article 323B of the Constitution of India, the question that had fallen for determination was whether stores and spare parts for plant and machinery used for manufacturing taxable goods wo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ecessary that by the act of consumption the commodity in question must be "used up" or "destroyed" and mixed in the taxed goods. In support of such contention, they relied upon the following decisions: 1) Reliance Industries Ltd. vs. Asst. Commissioner of Sales and Ors., reported in (2008) 15 VST 228; 2) Burmah-Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Co. of India Ltd., Belgaum vs. Belgaum Borough Municipality, Belgaum, reported in (1963) Supreme Court 906; 3) State of Karnataka vs. B. Raghurama Shetty, reported in (1981) Vol.47 Sales Tax Cases 369; 4) Indian Copper Corporation Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Bihar and Ors., reported in (1965) Vol. XVI Sales Tax Cases 259; 5) Ami Pigments Pvt. Ltd. and Ors. vs. State of Gujarat and Anr., reported in (2010) 32 VST 97. Therefore, the only question that arises for determination in this writ application is whether the spare parts of the machineries used for the purpose of manufacturing the taxable goods should be treated to be "consumable stores" so as to get the benefit of ITC under Section 22(4) of the VAT Act. In order to appreciate the question involved, it will be profitable to refer to the provisi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... b-section." After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and after going through the aforesaid provision, we find that ITC rebate should be allowed to the extent of the amount of the tax paid or payable by the purchasing dealer on his purchase of taxable goods other than such taxable goods as specified in the negative list appended to the said section made in the State from a dealer when such goods purchased are inter alia used as raw materials and consumable stores required for the purpose of manufacture of taxable goods intended for sale in the State or in the course of inter-State trade and commerce within the meaning of Section 3 of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. The phrase "consumable stores" consists of two words- "consumable" used as adjective and "stores" used as noun. There is no dispute that spare parts of machinery come within the meaning of the word "stores' used in plural as a noun. The only dispute is as regards the meaning of the adjective "consumable" placed before the noun "stores". It is well known that a suffix "able" added to a verb makes the same adjective meaning thereby that the same is "capable of" doing the "action" or subject to the "action" ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t the extreme contention of Mrs. Roy, the learned Advocate for the petitioner, that in order to come within the phrase "consumable stores", those spare parts must lose its identity and be mixed up with the taxed goods in the process of manufacture in order to get the benefit of rebate. As would appear from the relevant provisions of the Statute i.e. "consumable stores required for the purpose of manufacture of taxable goods", the consumable stores entitled to rebate should be "required for the purpose of manufacture" and thus, it is not the requirement of law that such consumable stores must also lose its identity in the process of manufacture and should be mixed with the finished taxed goods. In the case of Members, Board of Revenue, West Bengal vs. Phelps (supra), relied upon by Mr. Gupta, the learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of the Respondents, the question was whether 'gloves' put on by the purchasing Companies' workmen engaged in hot jobs or in handling corrosive substances in the course of manufacture can be stated to have been used in the manufacture of goods for sale as understood by the provisions of Section 5(2)(a)(ii) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... elating to such sale: Provided that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply to any sale unless the dealer selling the goods furnished to the assessing authority in the prescribed manner a declaration duty filled in and signed by the dealer to whom the goods are sold containing the prescribed particulars in the prescribed form obtained from the prescribed authority on payment of prescribed fee." The argument on behalf of the appellant was that the natural gas was 'consumable' within the meaning of the aforesaid provision and, therefore, entitled to the concessional rate of tax. The High Court relied upon the Supreme Court's judgment in the case of Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax (Law), Board of Revenue (Taxes), Ernakulam vs. M/s. Thomas Stephen and Co. Ltd., Quilon, (1988) 2 SCC 264: (AIR 1988 SC 997), to come to the conclusion that the natural gas fell outside the meaning of the word 'consumables' in the said provision. In such circumstances, the Supreme Court held that the word 'consumables' in the said provision took the colour from and must be read in the light of the words that are its neighbours, namely, 'raw material', 'component part', 'sub-assembly p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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