9911796707
TMI Blog1979 (6) TMI 33X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the petitioner. The petitioner has also prayed that the respondents be directed to refund the further amounts which would be so collected during the pendency of this special civil application. The petitioner has also prayed for a permanent injunction restraining the respondents from collecting and/or levying any excise duty under Item 30-A in respect of sale of accessories along with power driven pumps where the prices of such accessories have been separately shown in the invoices of the petitioner. In the alternative to the above two prayers, the petitioners have prayed for an order quashing the levy of excise by respondents on sale of power driven pumps without accessories under Item 30-A and to further direct the respondents to refund to the petitioner the amount of excise duty collected from March 17, 1972 in respect of such transactions and also to restrain the respondents permanently from collecting or levying any excise duty under Item 30-A in respect of such transactions. 2. The petitioner is a company registered under the Indian Companies Act and manufactures various types of hydraulic and engneering goods since 1943. Respondent No. 2 is the Assistant Collector havin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Item 30 A. However, the Assistant Collector had not given any reasons in support of his conclusion. Against this decision of the Assistant Collector, the petitioner went in appeal and the Appellate Collector, by his order dated September 25, 1975, allowed the appeal. He set aside the order of the Assistant Collector on the ground that reasons had not been given and he remanded the matter back to the Assistant Collector so that a speaking order might be passed. On June 16, 1976 the Assistant Collector passed the order after remand once again holding that accessories were exigible under Item 30-A and he held these particular accessories in dispute before us to be parts of pump. The petitioner again went in appeal against the order of the Assistant Collector and by the order dated November 19, 1976, the Appellate Collector allowed the appeal and upheld the contention of the petitioner. This order of the Appellate Collector was not implemented for some time and thereupon, on August 3, 1977, the petitioner filed Special Civil Application No. 1100 of 1977 in this Court praying for a writ of mandamus to the Assistant Collector so as to make him comply with the order of the Appellate Coll ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and discharge head assembly, there is also a strainer which is fitted at the bottom of the pumping unit so as to strain put weeds and other impurities which might otherwise damage the vanes of the impeller in the bowl assembly. There are also lubricating parts which help the machine moving smoothly as a result of lubrication. Sometimes, lubrication is done merely by water. Though in the affidavit filed on behalf of the Government an attempt has been made to show that even the strainer and lubricating tanks are parts of accessories of a power driven pump, the controversy before us has centered round the column assembly and the discharged head assembly. 5. As regards strainer, it is obvious that strainer will be required to be fitted if there are impurities in the liquid which is to be pumped. If it is crystal clear water or if there are no impurities, a strainer may not be required at all and therefore a strainer cannot be said to be an essential part of a power driven pump. 6. It is well settled law that in cases like the present one when questions of interpretation of items or entries in excise schedules arise, the test to be applied is the test of how it will be understood by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ut any of the items which are mentioned in Appendix A. In his order dated June 16, 1976 which is Annexure `A' to the petition in the present proceedings, the Assistant Collector has set Annexure A to the show cause notice. The petitioner was claiming several parts as accessories and not vertical mixed turbine pumps. At Item 1 in the Schedule, the petitioner was claiming that discharge head (oil lubricated), discharge head (water, lubricated), column assembly (oil lubricated/water lubricated, pre-lubricating tank, lubricator - manual/automatic, suction pipe, strainer and depth indicating device, were all accessories and in the case of vertical mixed flow pumps, the petitioner was claiming that discharge head or skirt-oil-lubricated/water-lubricated, column assembly, oil lubricated/water-lubricated, lubricator - manual/automatic and strainer, were all accessories. The other accessories which are referred to in the order of the Assistant Collector, Annexure `A' to the petition, are not in controversy before us, we are only concerned with the accessories in connection with vertical turbine pump and vertical mixed flow pumps which are the main items manufactured by the petitioner compan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... However, treatment of axial flow pumps as a class by themselves was not justified, because hydraulically they represent one extreme of a continuous series of pump types. This continuity applies to both theoretical treatment and design methods. Some intermediate types are called mixed flow pumps. In these, the flow through the impeller has both radial and axial components and the impeller resembles a ship propeller". In 2.2 of Chapter II of this book, it has been pointed out : "Every pump consists of two principal parts: an impeller, which forces the liquid into a rotary motion by impelling action, and the pump casing, which directs the liquid to the impeller and leads it away under a high pressure. The impeller is mounted on a shaft which is supported by bearings and driven through a flexible or rigid coupling by a driver. The pump casing includes suction and discharge nozzles. Supports the bearings, and houses the rotor assembly. The casing has to be packed around the shaft to prevent external leakage. Closely fitted rings, called wearing rings, are mounted on the impeller and fitted in the casing to restrict leakage of high-pressure liquid back to the pump suction. Liquid is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m the pump itself. So far as column assembly and discharge head assembly are concerned, they merely enable water to pass out from the bowl assembly and they enable the shaft to supply rotary action to the vanes of the impellers so far as column assembly is concerned. The discharge head merely keeps the bowl assembly and column assembly suspended at the appropriate depth so that liquid could be forced out. Under these circumstances, it is obvious that what is driven by the power is the impeller in the bowl assembly and the rest merely provides the housing or casing through which water rushes out or the shaft passes for the purposes of moving the impeller. It is thus clear that what is driven by power are the parts of the bowl assembly, not the column assembly which remains purely stationary, or the discharge head assembly which merely keeps column assembly and the bowl assembly suspended below the discharge head assembly. 10. There is another aspect also from which this question can be considered, and it is supplied by the book "An Introduction to Engineering Fluid Mechanics" which points out that a turbine pump is exactly the reverse of a turbine which generates electricity. It i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... time to time or replaced from time to time, the rest of the things remaining as they are, unless the bowl assembly pipes or the casing have rusted or some such action takes place. But so far as a power driven pump is concerned it is only the bowl assembly which houses the pump, namely, the impellers with their vanes which pump water or pump out the liquid, as the case may be, without the column assembly or the discharge head assembly contributing anything to the pumping out action of the pump or the pumping up action, so far as the liquid to be pumped up or pumped out is concerned. 12. Mr. Vakil for the respondents contended that when there are two possible meanings of the word "pump" one which is contended for by the petitioner and the other which is referred to by the Excise authorities, each of which meanings is possible, the High Court acting under its jurisdiction under Article 226 should not interfere by preferring one meaning to another. In our opinion, there are no two meanings possible so far as a power driven pump is concerned. What is exempted is accessories of a power driven pump and what is excisable is the power driven pump. There is only one meaning of "power driv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erating or controlling the tone resources of an organ'. `Accessories' are not necessarily confined to particular machines for which they may serve as aids. The same item may be accessory for more than one kind of instrument." In Srirama Engineering Co. v. The State of Andhra Pradesh, 40 S.T.C. 136, at page 139, a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has dealt with what is the meaning of "accessories". They have observed at page 139 : "According to the dictionary meanings, an accessory is something which contributes in a subordinate degree to a general result or effect. In other words, it is something extra added to help in a secondary way. It is also an object or device that is not essential in itself but that adds to the beauty, convenience or effectiveness of something else." Thus, both according to the meaning ascribed to the word "accessories" by the Supreme Court and by the Division Bench of the Andra Pradesh High Court, with which we respectfully agree, an accessory is an object or device that adds to the effectiveness of something else. The column assembly and the discharge head assembly contribute to the effectiveness of the bowl assembly in the instant cas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... est by the petitioner in respect of sale of accessories effected along with the sale of power driven pumps when the prices of such accessories had been- shown separately in the invoices of the petitioner. 16. In the cases of Processing Houses, Special Civil Application Nos. 1552 of 1977 and 1553 of 1977 and Batch decided by a Division Bench of this Court on January 24, 1979, we have ordered that interest at twelve per cent per annum should be paid in all cases where the money was illegally collected by the Excise authorities from the citizens. The same principle will apply in this case also and the respondents are directed to refund the above mentioned amounts with interest at twelve per cent from the respective dates when the amounts were collected from the petitioner. In view of what we have observed, it necessarily follows that the respondents should be permanently restrained by a writ of mandamus from this Court from collecting or levying any excise duty under Item 30-A in respect of sale accessories in the sense of accessories explained in the course of this judgment, where prices of such accessories have been separately shown in the invoices of the petitioner. The responden ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
