AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1964 (3) TMI 75
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....contrivance called "cottage basin". It is used for spinning and reeling silk. The respondent was assessed to sales tax on his total turnover, treating the apparatus manufactured by him as "machinery" within the meaning of item No. 20 of the Second Schedule to the Act by the Commercial Tax Officer. The respondent appealed against the order to the Deputy Commissioner without any success. He held that "cottage basins" are not charakas but that they are "machinery" within the meaning of that term used in serial No. 20 of the Second Schedule. It may be mentioned that item No. 10 of the Fifth Schedule to the Act-charakas and their parts-are classified amongst goods exempted from tax under section 8 of the Act. The contention of the respondent has....
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....e case of charaka. Such an apparatus cannot therefore be classified as 'machinery' falling under item 20 of the Second Schedule. Hence we reject this view taken by the Department." 3.. It is contended by the learned Government Pleader on behalf of the State that the view taken by the Tribunal was erroneous as no distinction was made by the Legislature between machines that generate power and the machinery that does not, that "cottage basin" was machinery within the meaning of item No. 20 in the Second Schedule and that the view taken by the departmental authorities is correct. 4. The Act itself does not contain any definition of the term "machinery" and hence the difficulty. It is unnecessary to consider whether " charaka " is ....
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....l is moved round by the hand the gear-wheels begin to move causing corresponding motions in the reels which rotate in such a way that the thread is wound against each of them in a manner so as to avoid knotting. It will thus be seen that the "cottage basin" is a mechanical contrivance worked with manual power. It regulates the movement of the reels with the definite object of reeling silk threads round about the mounted reels with sufficient speed and in a regular manner so as to avoid knotting. It minimizes labour. The use of the two gear-wheels facilitates and increases the efficiency of reeling. Further, the advantage accruing by the use of this apparatus is that six threads can be reeled at a stretch, minimizing the cost of labour. We h....
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....ir Lordships think that however skilful definitions of 'machinery' may be framed, the determination in any given case of what is or is not 'machinery' must, to a large extent, depend upon the special facts of that case ..........." In the present case, we have already pointed out that the apparatus has certain mechanical contrivances. We have also pointed out that the wheel which is rotated by the hand causes the rotation of gear-wheels also as both of them are connected by a common rod. The combined movement and the interdependent operations of the gearwheels and the big wheel tend to move the reels mounted on the rod and produce well regulated rotations so as to produce a definite and specific result, viz., reeling the silk thread round t....
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....s likely to be dangerous to human life, health or property and therefore the installation of the machinery without licence contravened section 249 of the Act. In considering whether the looms were "machinery" Jackson, J., who delivered the judgment was of the opinion that the machinery contemplated in the Act is machinery worked by power, such as steam, water, or electrical power, and should be confined only to such forms of machinery as may reasonably be held to be in the same category as combustibles and unwholesome or dangerous trades, but machinery worked by hand, such as handlooms or sewing machines, is excluded. His Lordship did not hold that the handlooms were not "machinery". He only held that they did not come within the object of ....