9911796707
TMI Blog1997 (7) TMI 648X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... flattened pieces are cut into various other pieces. Thickness of those are reduced by splitting from the top to bottom and bundles are made of 50 of such pieces. Dhara, bata and beti are said to be more or less the same, being products manufactured by splitting bamboo. These are used for constructing temporary roadside huts or jhupri and fencing of walls and also for constructing temporary shops and fencing of walls of street-hawkers. This product is also used by paper industry for manufacture of paper. Applicant in RN-194, claims to import these articles from outside the State of West Bengal for sale in West Bengal. He is a dealer registered under the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 and the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. He claims these ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m his purchaser and the sales tax that was paid by him was paid from his own pocket. He prays for a declaration that dhara, beti and bata are articles made of bamboo and exempt from tax under Schedule I of the Act of 1941 and the Act of 1994 and for a direction to respondent No. 1 not to demand any tax on the sales of those articles and to refund amount of tax already paid on sales thereof in the course of assessment proceedings. 3.. The cases of the other applicants in RN-195 to RN-201 are almost identical. In RN-195 one of the articles dealt in by the applicant Madhab Chandra Das is "chatai" in addition to "dhara", "beti" and "bata". Similar is the case of Ajit Malakar in RN-196. The case of an applicant in RN-197, Tapashi Das is identi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... advocate for the applicants, submits that the applicants are importing processed split bamboos and then manufacturing dhara, chatai and beti and selling them in West Bengal. 4.. The question therefore, is whether, "dhara", "bata", "chatai" and split bamboo are "articles made of bamboo" within entry 1 under Schedule I to the Act of 1994 or are simply "bamboo" within item No. 5 in Schedule VI of the same Act. It is undisputed that bamboo has been declared as notified goods under Notification No. 1720-F.T. dated July 12, 1996, because of which permit is necessary under the Act of 1994 for importation of the same into the State of West Bengal. 5.. Mr. S.K. Chakraborty, learned advocate for the applicants has relied on the decision of this T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oo come under entry 1 of Schedule I of the Act of 1994 and are hence exempt from sales tax. 8.. In our opinion, "bamboo" is either whole bamboo as cut from the ground or cut pieces of unsplit bamboos. 9.. But we are of the view that unprocessed splitted bamboos are neither bamboos nor articles made of bamboo. Moreover, if split bamboos are used as raw materials in paper industry, such articles should not be treated as either articles made of bamboo or bamboo. In the result, unprocessed split bamboos are neither bamboos nor articles made of bamboo and, therefore, come under general goods taxable at general rate under the Act of 1994. Similarly split bamboos used as raw materials in paper industry should also be treated as general goods ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me goods as Mantu Das vide paragraph 2 of the application. Nani Gopal Das, of RN-199 deals in same goods vide paragraph 2 of his application. 12.. The goods which are dealt in by the applicants in RN-195 to RN-201 will be treated either as bamboo, or as articles made of bamboo or as general goods not falling within either of the aforesaid descriptions, as already indicated by us. 13.. We, therefore, direct that there will be a declaration in the lines already indicated. We also direct respondent No. 1 in RN-194 to RN-198 and RN-200 and RN-201, namely, Commercial Tax Officer, Malda Charge, to see in course of assessment proceedings whether any amount is refundable to the applicants of those cases as excess tax paid by them on the basis o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
