2015 (2) TMI 1059

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....2.2006, it was found that the assessee has claimed input tax under the nomenclature of work stations. The assessing authority disallowed such input tax on work stations considering them as input tax restricted goods falling under Entry No.5 of the V Schedule read with Section 11(a)(2) of the Karnataka Value Added Tax, 2003 (For short hereinafter referred to as 'KVAT Act'). Against the said order of assessment, the assessee preferred first appeal before the First Appellate Authority. The First Appellate Authority by its order dated 18.7.2007 dismissed the appeal confirming the assessment orders. The assessee challenged the correctness of this order before the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal. The Karnataka Appellate Tribunal by its judgment dated 19.1.2010 allowed all the appeals of the assessee holding that work stations are accessories of technical goods viz., of computer/computer peripherals falling under Entry No.3 of V Schedule read with Section 11(a)(2) of the KVAT Act, 2003. 3. Being aggrieved by the said judgment, the revenue has preferred STRP Nos.7/2011 and 103/2011 while STRP Nos.18/10 is preferred by the assessee. 4. The revisions petitions came to be admitted to c....

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....ther work stations purchased by the assessee which is in the business of development and sale of computer software would fall within the definition of furniture in Entry No.5 of V Schedule and is not entitled to the benefit of Input Tax Deduction". 8. In order to answer the said question, first we have to understand whether this work station is a furniture or not. 9. What is 'Furniture', has been the subject matter of Judgments of various Courts in the country. 10. The Allahabad High Court in the case of Imperial Surgico Industries, Lucknow Vs Commissioner, Sales Tax, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow reported in (1969) 23 STC 201 has held as under: "The entry in Notification No.ST-905/X dated 31st March, 1956, speaks of "furniture". Webster defines "furniture" as "that with which anything is furnished or supplied" and "articles used for convenience or decoration in a house or apartment." In Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary "furniture" is defined as "movables, either for use or ornament with which a house is equipped." Articles which are employed for the purpose of a convenience or for decoration in a dwelling place are described as furniture. They are articles which supply t....

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....arlance or commercial parlance has to be adopted. 12. The High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Chandan Metal Products Pvt. Ltd Vs The State Of Gujarat reported in (1969) 23 STC 29 has held as under: "There is no definitio of the word "furniture" in the Act and, therefore, it would be proper to refer to the dictionary. Webster's Dictionary, Second Edition, defines furniture to mean articles of convenience or decoration used to furnish a house. So far as the word "furnish" is concerned, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines the word "furnish", inter alia, as follows:- "To fit up (an apartment, a house) with all that is requisite, including movable furniture, which is now the predominant notion." The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary mentions in the meaning of the word "furniture", inter alia, as follows:- "Movable articles in a dwelling-house, place of business, or a public building." Therefore, so far as the dictionary meaning is concerned, all articles of convenience or decoration used for the purpose of furnishing a place of business or an office are articles of furniture. SO far as shelving rack is concerned, it is used in an office or an industrial organisatio....

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....ace of business or office or a house as articles of furniture. If any term or expression has been defined in the enactment then it must be understood in the sense in which it is defined but in the absence of any definition being given in the enactment the meaning of the term in common parlance or commercial parlance has to be adopted. Apparently, the deciding factor is the predominant or ordinary purpose or use. It is not enough to show that the article can be put to other uses also. It is its general or predominant user which seems to determine the category in which an article will fall. The test, is not whether the articles are capable of being used as furniture; the test is whether they are ordinarily so used and can be accepted as such according to the general or popular notion of what furniture is. Sales tax is a liability which affects the mercantile community and the consumer public. The list of items mentioned in the notification must be construed according to the understanding popular in that community and section of the people. To impose a technical or artificial meaning will result in defeating or stultifying the intention behind the provision. According to the general o....