Special tax deferment for large cement plants limited to the scheme's specific concessional rate, not the general prestigious-unit benefit.

A large scale new cement unit established outside the tribal sub-plan area was held to fall within the scheme's special cement-plant concession, not the general benefit available to ordinary very prestigious units. Reading the amended provisos to clause 2(j) and clause 4(a) with the ineligibility provisions and quantum limits, the Court treated large scale cement plants as a distinct category and held that the same expression in both provisos had to bear the same restricted meaning. The unit's entitlement was therefore confined to the specific deferment prescribed for large scale cement plants, namely 50 per cent of tax liability subject to annexure C conditions, and not 90 per cent deferment as a very prestigious unit.

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Issues: Whether a large scale new cement unit established outside the tribal sub-plan area and falling within the category of a very prestigious unit was entitled to deferment of tax at 90 per cent under the Rajasthan Sales Tax New Deferment Scheme, 1989, or whether its entitlement was confined to the specific limit prescribed for large scale cement plants under the scheme.

Analysis: The Scheme classified industrial units by scale and also created special classes of new industrial units, including pioneering, prestigious, and very prestigious units. Cement plants were generally kept out of the list of eligible industries, but the scheme was later amended by inserting second provisos to clause 2(j) and clause 4(a), thereby extending a limited benefit to large scale new cement plants established outside the tribal sub-plan area. The wording of the two provisos, read with the ineligibility list and the amended quantum provision, showed that the reference to large scale cement plants was intended to operate as a distinct category for purposes of the special cement-plant concession, and not to import the general benefit structure in annexure C applicable to ordinary new prestigious or very prestigious units. The same expression used in both provisos had to receive the same meaning, and the context and legislative history of the scheme supported the conclusion that large scale cement plants were granted only the limited deferment specifically provided for them.

Conclusion: The unit was not entitled to deferment of tax at 90 per cent as a very prestigious unit; its entitlement was restricted to 50 per cent of its tax liability under the scheme, subject to the other conditions in annexure C.

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