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TMI Blog1993 (11) TMI 224X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urchased a weighing machine for a sum of Rs. 48,000 from M/s. Angad Enterprises. In order to get exemption under section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act the petitioner applied for this purpose to the General Manager, District Industries Centre, Ghaziabad and the matter was put up before the Divisional Level Committee which, however, rejected the petitioner's application. A photo copy of the letter dated May 20, 1988, communicating the order rejecting the petitioner's application under section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act is annexure No. 2 to the writ petition. In this letter dated May 20, 1988, it is stated that an enquiry was conducted and it was found that the firm M/s. Angad Enterprises does not exist and hence it has to be inferred that the weighing machine was an old machinery. Thereafter the petitioner filed a review application on June 13, 1988, true copy of which is annexure No. 3 to the writ petition. In this application it was contended that in fact the said weighing machine was a new machinery purchased from M/s. Angad Enterprises against a regular bill from the term loan granted by New Bank of India Ltd. and the payment has been made by the petitioner by a bank draft t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd or building or both owned or taken on lease for a period of not less than seven years by such dealer or allotted to such dealer by any Government company or any corporation owned or controlled by the Central or the State Government; (d) using machinery, accessories or components not already used, or acquired for use, in any other factory or workshop in India; (e) fulfilling all the conditions specified in this Act or rules or notifications made thereunder in regard to grant of facility under this section on the date from which such facility may be granted to him." A perusal of the said Explanation indicates that it is the industrial undertaking which must be new, and not those machines which strictly speaking are not part of the industrial process. A weighing machine is not a necessary part of the industrial process. It is used only for weighing certain items and it is not used in the process of production. There is no denial that the factory of the petitioner is new. Hence, merely because the weighing machine is old that would not disentitle the petitioner from the benefit of section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act. The matter can be examined from another angle also. Supp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 992 UPTC 123 wherein it has been held that all provisions for exemption cannot be interpreted in the same manner. The Supreme Court observed: "...........The consequence which Shri Narasimhamurthy suggests should flow from the non-compliance would, indeed, be the result if the condition was a substantive one and one fundamental to the policy underlying the exemption. Its stringency and mandatory nature must be justified by the purpose intended to be served. The mere fact that it is statutory does not matter one way or the other. There are conditions and conditions. Some may be substantive, mandatory and based on considerations of policy and some others may merely belong to the area of procedure. It will be erroneous to attach equal importance to the nonobservance of all conditions irrespective of the purposes they were intended to serve." In our opinion clause (1)(d) of the Explanation to section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act should not be interpreted literally for that would subvert the very intention of section 4-A, viz., to encourage the industrialisation of the State. In our opinion clause (d) should be interpreted to mean that to get the benefit of exemption a substantia ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tail. "Guna" means subordinate or accessory, while "Pradhan" means principal. The Gunapradhan axiom states: "If a word or sentence purporting to express a subordinate idea clashes with the principal idea, the former must be adjusted to the latter or must be disregarded altogether." (See K.L. Sarikar's "Mimansa Rules of Interpretation", page 89). This principle is also expressed by the popular maxim known as matsya nyaya, i.e., "the bigger fish eats the smaller fish". According to Jaimini, Acts are of two kinds, principal and subordinate (see Jaimini, 2: 1: 6) In sutra 3: 3: 9 Jaimini states: * * * Kumarila Bhatta, in his Tantravartika (see Ganganath Jha's English translation, volume 3, page 1141) explains this sutra as follows: "When the primary and the accessory belong to two different Vedas, the Vedic characteristic of the accessory is determined by the primary, as the accessory is subservient to the purpose of the primary." It is necessary to explain this sutra in some detail. The peculiar quality of the Rigveda and Samaveda is that the mantras belonging to them are read aloud, whereas the mantras in the Yajurveda are read in a low voice. Now the difficulty arose abo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... trong. Now this substitution is being made despite the fact that the prescribed wood is khadir, but this prescription is only subordinate or accessory to the performance of the ceremony, which is the main object. Hence if it comes in the way of the ceremony being preformed it can be modified or substituted. The Gunapradhan axiom is fully applicable to the interpretation of section 4-A. Since the main aim of section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act is to encourage setting up of new industries we must interpret all the conditions and clauses in the said provision to make them in accordance with this main object. It may be that in isolation some clause or condition in section 4-A may have another meaning, but when they are read as part of section 4-A they must be given a meaning which subserves the object of section 4-A. The object of section 4-A is the primary, whereas the conditions mentioned in section 4-A are the accessories. The conditions mentioned in the Explanation to section 4-A (registration, etc.) are merely intended to ensure that there is a genuine new unit for which the exemption is claimed, and not a farzi one. These conditions must therefore not be construed strictly ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as philosophically is an essential element of equality or non-arbitrariness pervades article 14 like a brooding omnipresence". Hence we have to hold that the conditions in section 4-A for claiming the exemption must be interpreted in the reasonable manner, and not literally, and thus reasonableness must be judged from the point of view of the object of section 4-A(1). The decision of the Supreme Court in Bajaj Tempo Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income-tax [1992] 196 ITR 188 AIR 1992 SC 1622. In view of the above discussion, we are of the opinion that the petitioner is entitled to grant of eligibility certificate under section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Words in Sanskrit are not printed here. Tax Act and we quash the impugned orders communicated by the letters dated May 20, 1988 and January 19, 1989 (annexure Nos. 2 and 4 to the writ petition). We direct that the respondents shall issue an eligibility certificate to the petitioner under section 4-A of the U.P. Sales Tax Act within two weeks of production of a certified copy of this judgment before the appropriate authority and the assessment and recovery for the relevant years will be rectified accordingly. The writ petition is allowed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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