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TMI Blog2002 (4) TMI 52X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hout any basis. Even in the Note 1 itself in clauses 'a' and 'd', the expressions used are 'other articles' and 'similar articles' respectively. Such user as noted above cannot be said to be without basis or purpose. No words or expressions used in any statute can be said to be redundant or superfluous. The Note 1(a) of Chapter 84, as noted above, is clear and unambiguous. It does not speak of a class, category or genus followed by general words. The rule of ejusdem generis has, therefore, no application. Appeal dismissed. - Civil Appeal No.1951 of 1998 - - - Dated:- 4-4-2002 - S.P. Bharucha, C.J.I., N. Santosh Hegde and Arijit Pasayat, JJ. Soli J. Sorabji, Attorney-General of India (Prateek Jalan, Ms. Smita Inna and B.K. Prasad, Advocates, with him), for the respondent. Josephy Vellapally, Senior Advocate (Ms. Rohina Nath, Ms. Veronika Mohan and Umesh Kumar Khaitan, Advocates, with him), for the appellant. [Judgment per : Arijit Pasayat, J.]. - In this appeal under Section 130-E of the Customs Act, 1962 (in short the 'Act'), the only question that falls for adjudication is whether Karbate Tubes made of artificial graphite impregnated with Phenolic resin which ar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r, and if the interpretation sought to be put by the assessee is accepted, it would mean a complete transformation of the provision by addition/deletion of certain words, which is not permissible. 4.In order to appreciate rival submissions, it would be proper to take note of the entries on which the assessee and the Revenue have placed reliance. In Chapter 68 Section XIII (Articles of stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, mica, or similar materials: ceramic products; glass and glassware), Heading No. 68.15 reads as under: Heading No. 68.15 - "Articles of stone or of other mineral substances (including articles of peat), not elsewhere specified or included" Sub-heading No. 6815.10 - "Non-electrical articles of graphite or other carbon" 65% In Note 1 of Chapter 84 it is provided as follows : "1. This Chapter does not cover : (a) Millstones, grindstones or other articles of Chapter 68; (b) Appliances or machinery (for example, pumps) or parts thereof, of ceramic material (Chapter 69); (c) Laboratory glassware (Heading No. 70.17); machinery appliances or other articles for technical uses or parts thereof, of glass (Heading No. 70.19 or 70.20); (d) Articles of Heading No. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the core question. 7.It is significant to note that in different sub-headings the words 'similar' and 'other' have been used. It appears that wherever the expression 'similar' was intended to be used, it has been so done. Reference may be made in this context to headings and sub-headings like 6802.10, 6806.10 and 68.09 where the expression used is 'similar articles'. In some other headings and sub-headings, the expression 'and the like' have also been used, for example 6804.10 and 68.11. It cannot be said that different expressions like 'similar' and 'other' or 'and the like' have been used without any basis. Even in the Note 1 itself in clauses 'a' and 'd', the expressions used are 'other articles' and 'similar articles' respectively. Such user as noted above cannot be said to be without basis or purpose. 8.No words or expressions used in any statute can be said to be redundant or superfluous. In matters of interpretation one should not concentrate too much on one word and pay too little attention to other words. No provision in the statute and no word in any section can be construed in isolation. Every provision and every word must be looked at generally and in the context i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... one of the items in the Lists is to be read in a narrow or restricted sense and that each general word should be held to extend to all ancillary or subsidiary matters which can fairly and reasonably be said to be comprehended in it." 10.In the background of what has been urged by the assessee it has to be further seen whether the principles of ejusdem generis have application. The rule is applicable when particular words pertaining to a class, category or genus are followed by general words. In such a case the general words are construed as limited to things of the same kind as those specified. The rule reflects an attempt to reconcile incompatibility between the specific and general words in view of the other rules of interpretation that all words in a statute are given effect if possible, that a statute is to be construed as a whole and that no words in a statute are presumed to be superfluous. The rule applies only when (1) the statute enumerates the specific words, (2) the subjects of enumeration constitute a class or category, (3) that class or category is not exhausted by the enumeration, (4) the general terms follow the enumeration and (5) there is no indication of a diffe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere is no room for the application of the ejusdem generis doctrine," and where the words are clearly wide in their meaning they ought not to be qualified on the ground of their association with other words. For instance, where a local Act required that "theatres and other places of public entertainment" should be licensed, the question arose whether a "fun-fair" for which no fee was charged for admission was within the Act. It was held to be so, and that the ejusdem generis rule did not apply to confine the words "other places" to places of the same kind as theatres. So the insertion of such words as "or things of whatever description" would exclude the rule. Attorney General v. Leicester Corporation [(1910) 2 Ch. 359]. In N.A.L.G.O. v. Bolton Corpn. [(1943) AC 166] Lord Simon L.C. referred to a definition of "workman" as any person who has entered into a works under a contract with an employer whether the contract be by way of manual labour, clerical work "or otherwise" and said : "The use of the words 'or otherwise' does not bring into play the ejusdem generis principle : for 'manual labour' and 'clerical work' do not belong to a single limited genus" and Lord Wright in the same ..... 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