TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2007 (10) TMI 214
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....e impugned order upholding the decision of the original authority. The appellants are highly aggrieved over the impugned orders-in-appeal. Therefore, they have come before this Tribunal for relief. 3. Shri Rajesh C. Kumar, learned Advocate, appeared on behalf of the appellants and Shri K. Sambi Reddy, learned JDR, for the Revenue. 4. We heard both sides. 5. The main issue to be decided in both these appeals whether the impugned goods are entitled for the benefit of Notification No. 06/06-C.E., dated 1-3-2006. The lower authorities after going through the Notification have come to the conclusion that the impugned items semi-finished spectacle lens are 'ophthalmic blank' and they are subjected to further process like grinding, polishing and cutting before becoming lenses. In other words the impugned items are fit to be used as spectacle lens, only after carrying out the further processes. Therefore, the SFSL (the semi-finished spectacle lens) are not entitled for the benefit of the exemption Notification. The lower authority has taken note of the declaration on the SFSL packages "specially packed for exclusive use as raw material for processing by laboratories and not meant ....
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.... the Tribunal the opinion furnished by Dr. A. Subrahmanyam Professor department of Physics I.I.T. In his opinion dated 19-4-2007 the Professor has opined that even the semi-finished spectacle lens has to be considered as spectacle lens only because the semi-finished lens cannot be used for any other purposes. It has already obtained the characteristics of a spectacle lens. 7. The learned Departmental Representative invited our attention to the international standard in respect of semi-finished spectacle lens and stated that the semi-finished spectacle lens blanks are entirely different from the fully finished spectacle lens as can be seen from the definitions in the ISO. He also said that the notification has to be strictly interpreted. He pointed out that the exemption available is only for spectacle lens and not for semi-finished spectacle lens and one cannot stretch the meaning of the word spectacle lens to include even the semi-finished spectacle lens. 8. The learned Departmental Representative relied on the following decisions. In the State of Jharkhand v. Ambay Cements [2004 (178) E.L.T. 55 (S.C.)] the Hon'ble Apex Court has observed that in the exemption notification c....
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....enue by saying that the decisions relied on by the Revenue the party affected did not effectively represent their case and therefore those orders have been passed without taking into account the various facts. He reiterated the expert opinions which are extracted below: Department of Physics Tel 91-44-22574865 Indian Institute of Tech- &....
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....unt to differentiating between the end users of these spectacle lenses merely on the grounds of the nature and extent of vision correction that they require, which is certainly unjust. To summarize: (a) Semi-finished spectacle lenses are not distinct, in any manner, in utility from a finished spectacle lens. It has reached a stage where it is Spectacle lens and has no other applications or Usage. (b) Lens processing activity for finishing the semi-finished lens blanks is a mere extension of the manufacturing activity necessitated by the complexities in vision corrections to the human eye. (c) Semi-finished spectacles lenses can not be done away with as the type of errors in eyes are more than forty millions and customization is an absolute necessity. Over all, I wish to add that this is the information I gathered over the past ten years from various sources and I hope this will be helpful to you. Thank you and kind regards &n....
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....en to other rules of interpretation. Example: the Heydon's mischief Rule, the purposive rule etc. 11. The learned Advocate urged that if the benefit of the notification is not given the very purpose of issuing the notification will be defeated and the impugned item can be used only for manufacturing spectacle lens and they cannot be put to any other use. Therefore he requested the Bench to give the benefit of exemption notification to the impugned item. 12. On a very careful consideration of the issue, we find that the fact that the impugned items are semi-finished spectacle lens is not at all disputed either by the appellant or by the Revenue. The learned Advocate in the course of the hearing before the Tribunal produced sample of the impugned items. We find that as explained by them on one side the impugned item is optically worked and on the other side it has been left just like that. The main point urged by the appellant is that it is not possible to obtain a spectacle lens in the market which is suitable for a person with various types of eye defects. In other words there are millions of combinations of various powers and depending on the individual needs the semi-finish....
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....seen from the exemption notification, the exemption is given to spectacle lens. In the present case, it is not in dispute that the impugned item is semi-finished spectacle lens. As pointed by the learned SDR, even the ISO defines "semi-finished spectacle lens" and spectacle lenses differently. They are actually different. Even the appellant is not disputing this fact. The only point emphasized by the learned Advocate is that for various types of vision defects it is not possible to purchase spectacle lens off the shelf from a shop and necessarily depending upon the eye defect, the each individual requires a special type of spectacle lens it can be made only from semi-finished spectacle lens. In that view of the matter, he urged the point that the impugned item should also be considered as spectacle lens and the benefit of exemption notification should be given to them. He said that the facts that the semi-finished lens has already acquired a characteristic of the finished lens is to be taken into account. He also said that even for giving the benefit of notification the rule for interpretation can be used. We cannot accept the contention of the learned Advocate for the simple reaso....