TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1988 (1) TMI 246
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....nting industry and turned down their plea. The Collector (Appeals) in his order, however, held that term 'printing industry' was wide enough to cover textile printing also and allowed the appeal with consequential relief. The Revenue have come up in appeal against his findings and have urged in the grounds of appeal as under: "The relevant Notification in force on the date of import was 169/77 dated 6-8-1977 under which rubber blankets for 'Printing Industry' were eligible for concessional rate of duty at 40%. Goods in question were for use in textile industry (textile printing) and as such were not eligible for the concession under the said Notification. Goods were correctly assessed at standard rate because textile printing is not printing industry." 3. The learned SDR for the Department, Shri Sunder Rajan laboured for some time to prove that the goods were assessable under 40.05(16)(I) and cited the judgment of the Tribunal in the case of Swadeshi Mills Company Limited, Bombay v. Collector of Customs, Bombay : 1983 (14) E.L.T. 1839. 4. The learned advocate for the respondents, however, pointed out while he was not urging this ground and that so far as the basic cl....
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....use in printing on any surface', were replaced. He pleaded that the benefit under Notification 192/78 could not be given retrospective effect and only such rubber blankets as were used in the printing industry were eligible for the exemption at the relevant time, and the rubber blankets imported by the respondents were not eligible for this concession. He stated that the Tribunal has in the context of item 68 given a number of decisions as to what were the products of the printing industry. He cited the case of Golden Press v. Deputy Collector of Central Excise, Hyderabad & Another -1987 (27) E.L.T. 273 (A.P.). This decision, he conceded, was given in the context whether the printed cartons are the products of the, printing industry or not. He pointed out that the Hon'ble High Court posed the following questions : (i) What is the meaning of printing industry? (ii) Whether printed cartons are products of printing industry? He stated that the Court had answered the questions as under: "The question is one of drawing the line. If tomorrow a printing press undertakes not only printing on metal cans but also the manufacture of cans in which food products or other products ar....
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....pellants at the time the import was made and issue was not decided in the context of applicability of the said notification. 5. Shri Nankani, the learned advocate for the respondents pleaded for the respondents' plea for benefit of the exemption based on the Notification No. 169/77-Cus. He pleaded that thrust of the argument of the Revenue is that the scope of the printing industry should be only confined to the printing of paper. He drew out attention to the term 'printing' as held by the Tribunal in the case of Metagraphs Private Limited, Bombay v. Collector of Central Excise, Bombay - 1986 (26) E.L.T. 66 (Tribunal) para 14 onwards. He conceded in that case of Metagraphs, the question was whether the aluminium labels which were printed were the products of the printing industry. He pleaded that the Tribunal had taken note of the fact that the word 'printing' covers within its scope printing of textile fabrics also. In this view of the matter, he pleaded, the printed fabrics should be considered as product of the printing industry. He stated that so far as the word 'industry' is concerned, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M.S. Company Ltd. v. Union of India -1985 (19) E....
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....word 'Printing' as defined in Webster's Third New Dictionary as submitted by the learned Advocate is as under: "Printing n-s often attrib (ME printing, prenting, fr. gerund of printen, prenten to print-more at PRINT) la : reproduction (as on paper or cloth) of an image from a printing surface made typically by a contact impression that causes a transfer of ink-compare LETTERPRESS, INTAGLIO, PLANO GRAPHY, STENCIL, ELECTRONOGRAPHY ; b: the process of producing a positive or negative photographic image on a light sensitive material from a negative or positive by contact or projection : the process of making photographic prints; c: the process or art of decorating pottery by means of transfer papers printed with mineral colors or of gelatin sheets printed in oil with the colors being fixed by firing; 2: the art, practice, or business of printer; 3: the number of copies or the amount of material printed in one continuous operation: IMPRESSION 6c: 4 printings pl: paper to be printed on." The term "Printing" as set out in the New Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th Edition) is as under : "Printing traditionally has been denned as a technique for applying under pressure a certain quant....
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....ecause in some Act which is not incorporated or referred to, such an interpretation is given to it for the purposes of that Act alone." Macbeth v. Chislelt (1910) AC 220,223.' When the word to be construed is used in a taxing statute or a notification issued thereunder it should be understood in its commercial sense...." "...It is" true that in the Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board, etc. v. R. Rajjappa & Ors. (1978) 3 SCR 207, this Court has held that hospitals would also come within the definition of the expression 'industry' given in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 which is as wide as the legislature could have possibly made it. But that definition cannot be used for interpreting the word 'industry' in a notification granting exemption from customs duty under the Customs Act,1962." 8. We observe that the word 'industry' is not defined in the notification nor anywhere in the Tariff nor can its definition be adopted from any other statute wherein the same may be defined in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court (supra). The scope of the term Printing Industry in view of the observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court has to be construed based on how it is ....