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TMI Blog2017 (1) TMI 1622X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uding digital cameras, a microphone, and an accelerometer, so that images on screens are always displayed upright. The CETH No.84713090 being covered by CET Heading as others for "Tablet" is not found in IT Products' Notification, hence, is not covered by S/E C-56. The product covered by Excise Heading Tariff item No.87413090 is not a part of Notification issued for the purpose exemption of tax. The product "Tablet" is not covered by any schedule entry and it falls under residuary entry, E-1and liable to VAT at the rate of 13.5% - Similarly, the product viz. "Adopter" having CETH No. 85044090 is not a part of Notification issued by State Government for the purpose of schedule entry C-56. The product is not covered by any schedule entry and it falls under residuary entry, E-1and liable to VAT at the rate of 13.5%. Prospective effect - Held that:- The Commissioner or, as the case may be, the Advance Ruling Authority, may direct that the Advance Ruling shall not affect the liability of the applicant or, if the circumstances so warrant of any other person similarly situated, as respects any sale or purchase effected prior to the Advance Ruling - It is settled principle that the issue o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ily buy branded laptop backpack. 2.2 The AC adapters help reduce the size of a laptop computer by alleviating the need for a standard sized power supply. The AC adapter is made up of a central unit which draws power from an AC outlet, converts the power to DC that is used by the computer, and a second cord that plugs into the computer. 2.3 The Tablet is a thin, flat mobile instrument with a touchscreen display, which is usually in color, processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single device. Tablets often come equipped with sensors, including digital cameras, a microphone, and an accelerometer, so that images on screens are always displayed upright. The working of Tablet is multifunctional and in conjunction with an automatic data processing machine. The chapter Note. 5(E) is related to heading 8471 is applicable and thus falls under residuary schedule of that Excise heading. Hence, the Tablets are covered by 8471 30 90. 3. The contention of applicant:- 3.1 The applicant has stated that the back bag is packing material and shall be taxable at the rate of tax equivalent to tax rate prescribed for Lap top. He has invited attention to the provisions of Section 7 of M ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d Notification. He further stated that the interpretation as put forth by the applicant is not accepted then the entry will become redundant. All the items covered by description in sub-heading 8471 30 are further classified in tariff items. Tariff item 8471 30 10 covers personal computers. If above interpretation is not accepted and as 8471 30 10 is also not specifically mentioned in Notification under entry C-56, it will remain outside entry C-56. Similarly, the items covered under Tariff item 8471 30 90 also will remain outside the scope of the said notification. Thus, nothing will get belonging to sub-heading 8471 30. Obviously this cannot be interpretation as expected by the legislature. On the contrary the interpretation suggested by the applicant should be considered and accepted. It can be seen that the description is elaborative wherein items of tariff item 8471 30 90 are covered. Even if, personal computer is added in the description of 8471 30, the preceding part of the entry in notification would remain as it is. Looked from this angle it can be said that the item of tariff 8471 30 10 is taken in main description of sub-heading 8471 30. However, the items covered by tar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s granted by the Tribunal. The same principle will apply to the facts of the instant case as the dealer has been constantly assessed at lower rate in respect of impugned goods and this has led to assessee believing that the lower rate of tax is applicable to the goods sold by him. b) He has also placed reliance on the DDQ in case of Apsom Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd. I Negi Sign System & Supply Co. DDQ-1/2007/Adm-3/17-18/B-592 dt. 2.9.2009 and argued that, the learned Commissioner of Sales Tax noting that the importers have imported the impugned items in that case, i.e. ink jet printers under different Excise heading, granted prospective effect. The same principle will apply in relation to all impugned goods sold by the applicant in the instant case, as there are imports under different heading by the importers. It is contended that the applicant has already given data about the same, like in case of 'Tablet', which are cleared under heading 8471 30 10 and also under Item Tariff - 8471 30 90. c) He further stated that the bill of entries have been submitted in respect of carry bags. They have been cleared under Excise Heading 8471. Similarly, 'adapters' have bee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... icable in specific condition which read as where any goods are sold and such goods are packed in any material. b) In the present case, the Laptop is packed in cartoon box and delivered to customers. The customer, as per his / her requirement, purchases 'back bag' and uses for conveyance during journey. Hence, it is not 'packing material' as prescribed under section to levy tax under section 7 of MVAT Act, 2002. The applicant stated that the 'back pack' is cleared under same heading of Laptop by Custom Authority. It is settled principle that the clearance of good is not relevant for the purpose of levy of sales tax. In the instant case, it is necessary that the impugned goods should fall under specific Excise Heading Notified by State Government. Further, at the time of hearing, Mr. Thakar, Advocate has informed that the back bags are covered by the Excise Heading 4202 99 00. Therefore the impugned good is not covered by the relevant Schedule Entry; therefore, it falls under residuary entry E-1 and accordingly is liable to tax at the rate of 13.5%. 4.3 The rate of VAT in respect of "Tablet": The 'Tablet' is a thin, flat mobile instrument ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... time to time. 6% 17.9.2016 to date 4.3.2 The State Government has issued Notification (hereafter referred to Notification) in respect of S/E-C-56 as under and its interpretation:-Notification No. VAT 1505/CR-237/Taxation-1, Dated 17th October, 2005. ln exercise of the powers conferred by entry 56 of the Schedule 'C' appended to the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 (Mah. IX of 2005) and in supersession of the Government Notification, Finance Department, NO. VAT-1505/ CR-116/ Taxation-1, dated the 1st April 2005, the Government of Maharashtra hereby specifies the following goods, more particularly described in the Schedule appended hereto, to be Information Technology products for the purposes of the said entry, namely:- Schedule Information Technology products covered from time to time, under the headings or sub-headings or as the case may be, tariff items of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) Sr. No. Headin g No. Sub Heading No. Tariff Item No. Description 4. 8471 - - Automatic data processing machines and units thereof, magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing suc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ading or, as the case may be, sub-heading, matches fully with the corresponding description in the Central Excise Tariff, then all the commodities covered for the purposes of the said tariff under that heading or sub-heading or as the case may be, tariff item, will be covered by the scope of this Notification. Note.-(4) Where the description against any heading or sub-heading or as the case may be, tariff item, is shown as "other", then the interpretation as provided in Note 2 shall apply. In these circumstances, the schedule and Notes provided in the Notification of State Government are very important to define the scope of whether the product covered or otherwise. A) The meaning of the word "following goods" and "namely" provided in the Notification: The Notification start with phrase specifies the following goods, more particularly described in the Schedule appended hereto, to be Information Technology products for the purposes of the said entry, namely:- On perusal, it is observed that the Notification specifies the goods, more particularly described in the Schedule appended hereto, to be Information Technology products for the purposes of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Chamber's Twentieth Century Dictionary the meaning of the word "namely" has been given as "by name"; "that is to say". Consequently there can be no doubt about the meaning of the word "namely", that is, it is restrictive in the sense that the general expression which precedes the word "namely" is confined to the itemised expressions that follow the word "namely". Consequently the meaning of the word "namely" can only be restrictive and can be neither illustrative nor expansive." b) The word "namely" has been interpreted by a Bench of Hon. Supreme Court with reference to item 13 of the Fifth Schedule to the Income-tax Act, 1961, in the case of Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras-1 v. Arasan Fertilisers (P.) Ltd. ([1978] 114 I.T.R. 802.) In that case, the point that had to be considered was whether bone-meal manufactured by the assessee-company was one of the articles or things specified in the list in the Fifth Schedule to the Income-tax Act, 1961. Item 13 of the Fifth Schedule reads as follows: "13 Fertilizers, namely, ammonium sulphate, ammonium sulphate nitrate (double salt), ammonium ni ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... creams and pomades." The general expression "cosmetics and toilet preparations" used in entry 36 is not defined in the Act. That general expression is followed by the word "namely" which in turn is followed by certain enumerated goods. We have to ascertain the meaning of the word "namely" in the context in which it is used. Where that word restricts the scope and ambit of the general expression "cosmetics and toilet preparations" only to the enumerated items mentioned in the entry or it is merely illustrative, is the crucial point for consideration. The meaning of the word "namely" is given in the Webster's Third New International Dictionary as "that is to say : to wit, specifically, especially, expressly. In Stroud's Judicial Dictionary (Fourth Edition) "namely" means "by name" or "that is to say". It is stated that the word "namely" indicates "what is included in the previous term" in contradistinction to the word "including" which imports "addition, i.e., indicates something not included". Explaining the meaning of the words "namely" ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... goods of one taxable description and become those of a commercially different category and description." e) Hon. Supreme Court of India in the case of Rajasthan Roller Flour Mills Association Versus State of Rajasthan [1993] 91 STC 408 (SC), has also taken similar view for interpretation of word that is to say while deciding the issue Whether the expression "wheat" in section 14(i)(iii) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Act) includes flour, Maida and "suji"? .The Hon. Supreme Court has endorsed the view as under- "The quotation, given above, from Stroud's Judicial Dictionary shows that, ordinarily, the expression 'that is to say' is employed to make clear and fix the meaning of what is to be explained or defined. Such words are not used, as a rule, to amplify a meaning while removing a possible doubt for which purpose the word 'includes' is generally employed..... but, in the context of single point sales tax, subject to special conditions when imposed on separate categories of specified goods, the expression was apparently meant to exhaustively enumerate the kinds of goods on a given list. The purpose of an enumeration in a sta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aturally, be to indicate the types of goods each of which would constitute a separate class for a series of sales. Otherwise, the listing itself loses all meaning and would be without any purpose behind it. Considering the settled principles of interpretation as declared by the Hon. Apex Court from time to time, the contents of the Notification are required to be interpreted strictly and not liberally. If it is interpreted liberally then, the intention of legislature to notify specific goods for the purpose of exemption of sales tax would be defeated. C) The Notification issued by State Government in pursuance of Schedule entry. C-56 is of exemption in nature and needs to be construe strictly. We have already discussed the content of Notification issued by state Government for the purpose of schedule entry C-56. The Notification pertains to exemption of sales tax. The interpretation of Notification and its application is most significant. The Hon. Apex Court and various High Courts have already decided the interpretation of Notification for the purpose of taxing statute. We would like to refer some of them. a) Hon. Supreme Court in Novopan India Ltd. Hyderabad Vs. Collector of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der Central Excise Act is required to be compared with tariff heading, sub-headings and item No. and their descriptions provided in IT product Notification is to be applied with the help of the rules provided in four foot-Notes appended to the Notification. Those four Notes are very basic rules of interpretation provided for how to read the said Notification and to conclude as to whether a certain product is included or otherwise for the concessional rate of tax under sales tax Statute. In view of this background, it is worthwhile to compare the CETH under Excise Tariff and Notification issued by State Government for the exemption of rate of tax. a) The Central Excise Tariff Heading:- The central excise Heading No. 8471 of Chapter 84 of the Schedule appended to the said Act inter alia provides for:- Automatic data processing machines and units thereof, magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data Not elsewhere Specified or included. For the sake of clarity the relevant Tariff Heading and their descriptions are itemized as under: Tariff Item Description Unit Rate of Duty (1) (2) (3) (4) 847 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te Government Notification can be summarized as under- SR. NO Excise and state Govt. Notification Heading Description of Excise heading Description under IT products' Notification Remarks Results 1 8471 Automatic data processing machines and units thereof, magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data. Not elsewhere Specified or included . Automatic data processing machines and units thereof, magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form and machines for processing such data. Not elsewhere Specified or included is not covered in state govt. Notification Excise Tariff description of Headings and state Govt. Notification description issued for exemption of sales tax are not identical / same 2 8471 30 Portable digital automatic data processing machines, weighing not more than 10 kg, consisting of at least a central processing unit, a keyboard and a display: Portable digital automatic data processing machines, weighing not more than 10kg, consisting of at least a central processing unit, a keyboard and a display including personal computer T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed by said Notification or otherwise. Hence Foot Note-4 is applicable. The foot-Note 4 suggests interpretation as provided in Note-2 shall apply. It is relevant to comment that the foot-Note 3 is not applicable for interpretation. The applicable relevant foot Notes are analysed as under. Note.-(4) Where the description against any heading or sub-heading or as the case may be, tariff item, is shown as "other", then the interpretation as provided in Note 2 shall apply. Note.- (2) state that Where any commodities are described against any heading or, subheading or as the case may be, tariff item, and the aforesaid description is different in any manner from the corresponding description in the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985, then only those commodities described as aforesaid will be covered by the scope of this Notification and other commodities though covered by the corresponding description in the Central Excise Tariff will not be covered by the scope of this Notification. The interpretation principles laid in foot -Notes applied and commodities description in State Government Notification and description of Central Excise Heading are compared. e) On comparison, it is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t covered by the said entry in the Notification. It is to be remembered that the notification covers only those goods which are specifically described in the notification by its nomenclature or name. Moreover, the word "namely" has been used at the beginning in the notification so as to restrict the scope of the goods to be covered to the extent of those which are described in the notification. The meaning of the word "including" (used in phrase: including personal computers) is to be understood in the manner that it limits the entry to the extent of personal computers. Other goods cannot be treated as included in the said phrase or entry by intendment or implication as those not expressly mentioned or described in the said entry of the notification. The foot notes given at the bottom of the notification also prevent us from assuming "Tablet" (item tariff - 8471 30 90 - Others) to be covered by the said entry (8471 30) in the notification as description of tablet as well as "others -8471 30 90 is omitted for obvious purpose as to keep it outside the ambit of the said notification and concessional rate of tax of 6%. We refer to and rely upon the de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... radiobroadcasting or television, whether or not incorp. Transmission apparatus incorporating reception apparatus Cellular Telephones 'Ce+llular telephone' is in schedule B at Entry No. 60 (6) (g) vide HSN Code No.8525.20.17. The Tariff No.8525.20.17 only relates to cellular telephone and not the accessories. The Schedule 'B' does not indicate that the cellular phone includes the accessories like the chargers either in the HSN Code or by elaborating in words. B) Hon. Punjab And Haryana High Court in the case of Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Limited Vs State Of Punjab And Another, (CWP No. 11165 of 2015 (O&M), 2 November, 2015) has taken similar view. C) Hon. Delhi High Court in the case of Ricoh India Limited vs Commissioner, STA No. 06/2010 Decided on 4th May, 2012 has interpreted the provision of sales tax statutes and CETH No and held that- 14. Thus, Rule (1) is a general rule of interpretation and is not subject to Rules (2) to (4). Rules (2) to (4) require that we should examine the description in column (2) and compare it with the description of the goods mentioned in the relevant entry in the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. If the same are identical, t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ued by State Government, it is worthwhile to analyze and discuss the legal submission of applicant. 5. Legal submission and arguments advanced by the applicant: Mr. C. B. Thakar, Advocate referred to various court decisions to explain the legal position and application of ratio of these judgments. The submission is considered and analysed as under. a) He would contend that when other dealers have been charging lower rate on principle of parity, the applicant dealer is also eligible for charging lower rate of tax. He informed us that 'Principle of parity' was applied in the case of Bunge India Pvt. Ltd. (39 VST 213) (Bom). The same principle may be applied in the instant case. We have perused the said decision and found that the issue involved was whether the 'margarine' was classified at Schedule C, entry 100 or Schedule C, entry 107(11 )(F) liable at four per cent of tax or entry E-l and taxable at 12.5 per cent from February 1, 2008 under the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002. It was held that 'margarine' produced by the respondents was classified in Schedule C, entry 100 as vanaspati and was taxable at four per cent till the decision of the A. O. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of them in column (3) of the respective Schedule. The law is well settled that when the statute requires to do certain thing in certain way, the thing must be done in that way or not at all. Other methods or mode of performance are impliedly and necessarily forbidden. The aforesaid settled legal proposition is based on a legal maxim "Expressio unius est exclusion alteris", meaning thereby that if a statute provides for a thing to be done in a particular manner, then it has to be done in that manner and in no other manner and following of other course is not permissible. (Nazir Ahmed v. King Emperor, AIR 1936 PC 253; Ram Phal Kundu v. Kamal Sharma; and Indian Bank's Association v. Devkala Consultancy Service. AIR 2004 SC 2615). In Competent Authority v. Baranqore Jute Factory and Ors the Hon'ble Apex Court held as under: "It is settled law that where a statute requires a particular act to be done in a particular manner, the act has to be done in that manner alone. Every word of the statute has to be given its due meaning." i) A Constitution Bench of the Hon. Apex Court in Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai v. Anjum M.H. Ghaswala and Ors, reaffirmed th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ry and while doing so, the fiscal statute must be read according to its natural construction of words. While deciding the said case, the Apex Court placed reliance upon large number of its earlier judgments, particularly, in Gursahai Saiqal v. C.l.T.; Controller of Estate Duty v. Kantilal Trikamlal; A.V. Farnandez v. State of Kerala; C.l.T. v. Mr. P. Firm Muar, and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority v. Sharda Kumar Jayanti Kumar Parawalla . iii) In Martand Dairy & Farm v. Union of India and Ors., the Hon'ble Apex Court observed that: "Law is not always logic and taxation considerations may stem from administrative experience and other factors of life and not artistic visualization or neat logic and so "the literal, though pedestrian, interpretation must prevail." iv) Same view was subsequently reiterated in Member Secretary, A.P.S.B. for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution v. A.P. Rayons Ltd.. It is also well settled that a very Wide latitude is available to the legislature in fiscal matters but fiscal enactments require strict interpretation. v) The Court is bound to give a literal interpretation if there is no ambiguity in the provision. In Patel C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that while deciding a case under fiscal statute, the Court / quasi-judicial authorities cannot import the principles of equity nor it can take into account the question of hardship to the assessee. b) He relied on the case of Accel Frontline Ltd. v/s State of Kerla (37 VST 527), and stated that in VAT chain the dealers right from beginning required to be assessed at same rate and in between dealer cannot be subjected to higher rate. We have perused the said judgment and found that the issue involved was whether the smart card based automatic ticket vending machine, "ATVM", purchased and sold by the petitioner was classifiable under computer systems and peripherals or any of the sub-entries falling under entry 69(22) of the Third Schedule to the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 or whether it falls under the description "vending machine" falling under entry 32(16) of Notification S.R.O. No. 82 of 2006. Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the machine itself is manufactured in a factory in Thiruvananthapuram by the petitioner's sister concern and it is cleared by paying excise duty at the rate applicable for computer system under entry 8471 of HSN code a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... te. Hence, the ratio of the case relied upon by the applicant is not applicable to present case. c) The applicant has relied on the judgment in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Bradma of India Ltd. (140 STC 17) and Bharat Forge Ltd. (84 STC 414) (SC). He stated that the Hon. Supreme Court has held that the item should be held as covered in the specific entry rather than general entry. The issue involved was whether cash registers are classifiable under entry 90 or under entry 97(b) of Part II, Schedule C of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959? The Hon. High Court held that- "It is significant that by contrast, data processing machines have expressly excluded computers. Were it not so excluded, computers would have also fallen within entry 90. In fact computers are separately dealt with in entry 97(a). But the exclusion of computers from data processing machines would indicate that the items mentioned in entry 90 are generic covering all species of such items. Given the language of the two entries we fail to understand how the High Court could have come to the conclusion that entry 97(b) was the specific entry and that entry 90 was the general entry. Such an interpretation goe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the present case. e) He has placed reliance on Hon. Apex Court judgment in the case of Cemento Corporation Ltd. (129 STC 313) (SC) and contented that if there is any ambiguity about classification, the classification should be made so as to favor the dealer. We have perused the said judgment. The issue involved that whether for the period 1982 to 1985 the lympo manufactured by the appellant could be classifiable under the T.I. 23(2) of the Schedule to the 1944 Act? The factual background, in which this decision was rendered, has to be referred. On factual background, the Hon. Apex Court pleased to observe that- 15. In our view, the Tribunal and the Collector have incorrectly interpreted the provisions of Tariff Item 23 of the First Schedule to the 1944 Act. The Tariff heading of the entry is 'Cement'. Therefore when T.I. 25(2) speaks of "all others" it means "all other kinds or varieties of cement". It is axiomatic that if the product is not cement but can be used for some purposes like cement such product is not cement. The test as enunciated by the Tribunal for determination of the question of classification is no doubt how the product is known to t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ve and decided that- "It is pertinent to Note that in the said Notification, only the broad Central Excise Heading (i.e. 29.15) is mentioned. The precise sub-heading number has not been mentioned against the said Sr. No. 82. That clearly means that all the chemicals of the description mentioned in Col. (4) and covered by the broad heading No. 29.15 are covered by the said Sr. No. 82 of the said Notification. The Government has not restricted the scope thereof by mentioning any Central Excise Sub-heading in that regard. In other words, by not mentioning the precise sub-heading, the Government has in a way expanded the scope of the said Sr. No. 82. In that view of the matter, the fact as regards the Government's not having given any precise sub-heading cannot be interpreted to mean that the Chemicals covered by the sub-heading will not befall the said Sr. No. 82. The reason given by the First Appellate Authority for holding the Appellant's products to be not covered by the said Sr. No. 82 is absolutely irrelevant and illogical. So long as the chemicals in question answer the description of the goods in Col. (4) and so long as they are covered by the broad heading 29.15, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of VAT at lower rate is with some exception. The levy of MVAT is subject matter of sales tax statute. The State Government has already issued Notification For exemption of sales tax for IT-products. We have already dealt with interpretation of Notification issued for Schedule Entry C-56. It is important to Note that the said product is covered by CET Heading read as "others" and having CETH No. 85044090. The said item excise heading is related to chapter No. 85 Of Central Excise Tariff and having heading as electrical transformer, static converter (for example, rectifiers) and inductors. The detailed analysis is prepared regarding schedule entry C-56 and Notification issued in pursuance of said schedule entry in earlier paras. The similar principles are applicable to decide the rate of tax on sales of Adopter. The product viz. "Adopter" having CETH No. 85044090 is not a part of Notification issued by State Government for the purpose of schedule entry C-56 and is liable to VAT at the rate of 13.5%. 7. Conclusion:- In View above conversation, the conclusion is drawn as under. 7.1 The "back pack" is used for conveyance of laptop during journey. The Lap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ctly and not liberally. The claim of dealer is that the impugned goods are covered by the Notification and hence liable for concessional rate of vat. b) We have to analyse the State Government Notification and its chronology of drafting for the purpose of exemption of sales tax. The State Government has purposefully included certain products having Heading "OTHERS" related to tariff item No. 8471 60 29, 8471 60 90 and 8471 90 00 in Notification to give exemption and purposefully not included certain products having Heading "OTHERS" related to tariff item No. 8471 30 90. 8471 41 90 and 8471 70 90 in Notification to deny the exemption. It is revealed that the schedule related to State Government Notification includes description of personal computers having tariff- heading 8471 30 10 and does not include the heading and its description read as "others" related to item No. 8471 30 90. c) We have taken opportunity and discussed many aspects to interpret that the goods, "Tablet" described as "other" for Tariff item No. 8471 30 90 is whether covered by the said Notification or otherwise. In the present case, as we have already discussed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... excise sub-heading 8474130 is included intentionally for only covering - "personal computer". The intention of State Government is very clear to include those goods which are mentioned in the said Notification by name expressly. If otherwise interpreted, then the provided sub-headings and Tariff headings in the Notification would be redundant. Such type of interpretation ought not to be adopted. f) The CETH No.84713090 being covered by CET Heading as others for "Tablet" is not found in IT Products' Notification, hence, is not covered by S/E C-56. The product covered by Excise Heading Tariff item No.87413090 is not a part of Notification issued for the purpose exemption of tax. The product "Tablet" is not covered by any schedule entry and it falls under residuary entry, E-1and liable to VAT at the rate of 13.5%. g) Similarly, the product viz. "Adopter" having CETH No. 85044090 is not a part of Notification issued by State Government for the purpose of schedule entry C-56. The product is not covered by any schedule entry and it falls under residuary entry, E-1and liable to VAT at the rate of 13.5%. h) In view of above discussion, court r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... umstances so warrant of any other person similarly situated, as respects any sale or purchase effected prior to the Advance Ruling. On careful analysis of the section, it reveals that the Advance Ruling Authority may protect the liability of dealer in two conditions. a. in case of applicant or b. if the circumstances so warrant of any other person similarly situated. It is settled principle that the issue of prospective effect is to be considered on fact and circumstances of each case separately. There is no straight jacket formula to say that prospective effect is to be given in typical circumstances. However, the Hon. Bombay High Court in case of Lalbaugcha Raja Sarwajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has laid certain principle for granting the prospective effect. We would like to refer the same on set of said facts and merit of the case in hand. (d). The Hon. Bombay high Court in case of Lalbaugcha Raja Sarwajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal (MVAT Tax Appeal No.10 of 2015) while interpreting the section 56 of MVAT ACT, 2002 laid dawn the principles regarding the granting of prospective effect and observed in relevant Para that- "10. On plain reading of both the subsections (1) and (2) o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mbiguity in the provisions and there is no scope, for any doubt arising out of the provisions and relevant for the purpose of the determination. The reasons that are assigned by the Commissioner for refusing to give prospective effect to his determination order, have not been found to be suffering from any error of law apparent on the face of the record or perversity warranting interference in the appellate jurisdiction of the Tribunal." The observations of the Hon. High Court as aforementioned are equally applicable to the Advance Ruling Authority and the powers delegated to the Advance Ruling Authority must be used in very logical and judicious manner in order to protect the liability of applicant and also sub-serve the larger public interest. These powers are coupled with duty to see whether the applicant has really strong reasons, which necessitate the use of discretionary powers. These powers cannot be used as per wish and whims of authority concerned. (e) In the present case, as discussed above on the merit, there is no ambiguity in the entries of the Notification. The Notification is to be reguired to read with Notes appended with it and interpret accordingly. There i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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