TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1991 (2) TMI 391
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....axed under the said entry. It reads: "All machinery and spare parts and accessories thereof." The petitioners contend that pipes, pumps, etc., are articles having independent use and they are bought or sold for various uses and these articles referred in the Commissioner's clarification dated May 25, 1987, are not accessories to a "sprinkler", while the Revenue supports its attempt to rope in these articles under entry 20. Therefore, the question is whether those articles like pipes in common use, which can be and are used elsewhere, also would not be "accessories", just because, they are sold along with the sprinklers or by the dealer in sprinklers. It is quite likely that a person intending to have sprinklers installed in his ....
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...., if it is to be held as an accessory, a railway line also has to be held as an accessory to the engine of the train; since the engine cannot move on without the railway line. The mechanism of a sprinkler has been explained in the case of Premier Irrigation Equipment Pvt. Ltd., referred to above (S.T.R.P. Nos. 6 and 7 of 1981 decided on 17th July, 1984Karnataka High Court). It is stated: "The operation of the water-sprinkler with which we are concerned has been explained in a note prepared by the Regional Manager of the assessee-company. That note has been produced before the taxing authorities and it reads: 'Water under pressure (from overhead tank, etc.) coming from pipes is connected to sprinkler. Water comes out through jet and hi....
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....in full circle throwing water all round. It does therefore evoke, or direct natural forces with the object of effecting a definite and specific result." Sprinkler operates by the force of the water, which it spreads around. That is the purpose of installing a sprinkler. To add beauty or being elegance to the lawn or garden, if a particular sprinkler is installed with such aids, i.e., some special type of pipes or stands, they may fall within the concept of an accessory. On the question of "car seat covers", as to whether they are accessories of motor vehicles, before answering, the Supreme Court posed the question thus, in Mehra Bros. v. Joint Commercial Tax Officer (C.A. Nos. 1367 and 1368 of 1975, dated November 14, 1990) (Reported in ....
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....in this decision. Seat covers upholstery were held to be accessories as an addition, an adjunct, etc., and found that the seat covers were manufactured and sold as an automobile part in the regular course of business. Regarding this test, earlier, it was observed: "Another test may be whether a particular article or articles or parts, can be said to be available for sale in an automobile market or shops or places of manufacture; if the dealer says it to be available certainly such an article or part would be manufactured or kept for sale only as an accessory for the use in the motor vehicle. Of course, this may not also be a conclusive test but it is given only by way of illustration." "Arc carbon" is mainly used for production of ....
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....r", independently of the vague concept "sprinkler system". The assessing authority is not expected to visit the purchaser to see whether he has been utilising the articles purchased by him as part of a "system". In the context of the sprinkler and having regard to its user and purposes, as an article of commerce, the test to be applied will be the one applied in Mehra Bros. case [1991] 80 STC 233 (SC) as to whether the articles are adapted generally as parts and accessories of the sprinkler. Initially writ petitions were filed immediately on the issuance of the circular by the Commissioner dated May 25, 1987. Though writ petitions were entertained, proceedings were not stayed. During the pendency of these writ petitions assessment ord....