9911796707
TMI Blog2019 (5) TMI 41X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y them declaring them as scientific and technical equipment. The appellant is a subsidiary of Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd (a Government of India undertaking) engaged in manufacturing various machine tools. In respect of the equipment which they cleared to institutions like ISRO, Bangalore, CMTT, Bangalore, BARC, Mumbai and VSSC, Trivandrum, they claimed benefit of exemption notification 10/1997- CE dated 01.03.1997 which reads as follows: "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods specified in column (3) of the Table below and falling under the Schedule ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Research and the manufacturer produces at the time of clearance, a certificate from the Head of the institution in each case, certifying that the said goods are required for research purposes only. (ii) The aggregate value of prototypes received by an institution does not exceed fifty thousand rupees. 3. It is the case of the revenue that the appellant has wrongly claimed the benefit of this exemption notification which is available only for scientific and technical instruments, apparatus, equipment (including computers), accessories, spare parts, consumables, computer software and prototype, whereas, the appellant's products are machinery falling under Chapter 84 and do not fall in any of the aforesaid categories. Therefore, the appell ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n of the goods in question. It is also not in dispute that they are a Public Sector Undertaking and that they have supplied all these machines/ equipment to scientific organisations such as BARC, ISRO, etc. For instance if CNC vertical turning and boring machines are supplied, they are supplied as per specific requirement of the scientific organisation with +/- 10 micron accuracy which is required for their scientific purposes. Similarly, the rotary table sold by them is a part of the machines for accurate positioning of components to be machined without any jerks. This is an essential requirement for machining hazardous material like solid propellant or rocket motors. The base plates manufactured by them are also a part of CNC machines mea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e to be, under the belief that they are not liable to Central Excise duty and are covered by exemption notification. The department has not discharged its burden of showing how the extended period of limitation can be invoked in their case. 9. Lastly, he would argue that since they were under the bonafide belief that they are entitled to the benefit of exemption notification penalty under Sec.11AC is not invokable as the department has not made out a case showing the grounds of suppression, wilful misstatement of facts, etc. The interest on the duty is also not payable in view of the above. 10. Learned departmental representative reiterates the findings of the impugned order and asserts that the appellant is not entitled to the benefit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... match the description of the goods and fulfil other conditions. There is no dispute regarding fulfilment of the conditions of the notification. The only question is whether the CNC machines and other equipment manufactured by the appellants specifically for supply to scientific institutions can be called scientific equipment or otherwise. This issue is no longer res integra and in the case of Autoprint Machinery Manufacturers Pvt Ltd (supra), Tamil Nadu Petro Products Ltd (supra) and Godrej Appliances Ltd (supra), this exemption notification has been interpreted by the Tribunal to cover the equipment supplied to scientific and research institutions for the purpose of scientific research whether or not such goods fall under chapter 90. In f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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