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TMI Blog1980 (8) TMI 200X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... D Tariff Item No. Description of Goods Rate of Duty Basic Special Excise 37 CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS Exposed of a width below 30 mm of 30 mm. in width or higher. (1) Newsreels and shorts 15 paise per mtr. 10 paise per mtr. 20% of the baisc duty chargeable (2) Feature films, advertisment shorts 50 paise per mtr.and films not otheriwise specified This Item No. 37 was thereafter substituted by a new Item 37 by the Finance Act, 1969, and it read as follows : 37 CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS : I Unexposed II Exposed : of a width of 30 mm. or higher. Two paise per metre below 30 mm. in width (1) Newsreels and shorts not exceeding 500 metres Fifty paise per metre Thirty paise per metre (2) Feature films, ad-vertisement shorts and films not otherwise specified ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... direction the authorities were not in a position to exercise their independent and unfettered mind and have failed to exercise their independent mind in regard to the contentions raised by the Company. It was urged that the powers exercised by the Collector were of a quasi-judicial nature and such power cannot be controlled by the direction issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs. (2) Secondly it was urged that the censorship certificate length of the film did not attract levy under Item No. 37 of the First Schedule to the Act. The learned trial Judge accepted both these contentions and declared the levy of duty on the censorship length of the film as illegal and set aside the impugned orders and the demand notice. The appellants have, therefore, filed this appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent challenging the order of the learned trial Judge. 4. Mr. Dalal, the learned Counsel appearing for the appellants, did not dispute the correctness of the finding of the learned trial Judge on the first question. He conceded that the authorities could not have passed the orders merely in obedience to the directions issued in the Circular of February 10, 1969. It was, howev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rovided in the Act, the Board considers that the film is suitable for unrestricted public exhibition or that, although not suitable for such exhibition, it is suitable for public exhibition restricted to adults, it shall grant to the person applying for a certificate in respect of a film a U certificate in the former case and an A certificate in the latter case and shall in either case cause the film to be so marked in the prescribed manner. Sub-section (2) of Section 5-A provides that a certificate granted or an order refusing to grant a certificate in respect of any film shall be published in the Gazette of India. Section 6-A relates to the information and documents to be given to distributors and exhibitors with respect to certified films. Under the said provision, any person who delivers any certified film to any distributor or exhibitor shall in such manner as may be prescribed, notify to the distributor or exhibitor, as the case may be, the title, the length of the film, the number and the nature of the certificate granted in respect thereof and the conditions, if any, subject to which it has been so granted, and any other particulars respecting the film which may be pres ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e that a film is nothing but a completed film and they do not suggest that the film that is to be exhibited remains incomplete till the censorship certificate is annexed. In support of his contention that the censor certificate is made on inseparable part of the main feature film, Mr Dalal strongly relied on Rule 36 of the said Rules. It runs as under: - Certificate. - (1) A certificate authorising the public exhibition of a film shall be in one of the Forms IV or V set out in the Schedule according as the authorisation is for unrestricted public exhibition or for public exhibition restricted to adults. (2) The certificate shall be signed for and on behalf of the Board by the Chairman or by a Regional Officer for the Chairman. (3) The prescribed mark of the Board shall be a film copy of the certificate, i.e. a trailer certificate, which shall be affixed to the film and always exhibited with it. The length of the trailer certificate will be as laid down in the following table - TABLE Size of film Length of film Length of the trailer certificate 35 m.m. Exceeding 2,000 feet ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ner in which the certificate is to be marked on the film. It is only a convenient way to mark the certificate and the film that it is a prescribed mark and that it should be a film copy of the certificate which has to be affixed to the film and which must be always exhibited with the film. What follows from the consideration of the relevant provisions of the Cinematograph Act as well as the rules framed thereunder is that a particular length of the film is nothing but a certificate issued by the Board of Film Censors. The particular length of the film merely represents the mark as prescribed by the rule that the Board has granted the particular certificate. The Legislature could as well have provided for some other mode of marking the certificate. To mark the certificate by annexing film copy of the certificate does not make it a part of the film, nor can it be said that it becomes a film as defined by the Cinematograph Act. 10. The scheme of the relevant provisions make it plain that a completed film has to be presented before the Board of Censors for getting the certificate. The Board of Censors on its scrutiny takes a decision as to whether the certificate should be granted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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