TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (1) TMI 767
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....h has various tea gardens in India. In course of their business, the petitioners engage various goods transport agencies for transportation of the tea from its tea gardens in Assam to its ware houses. The question involved is as to whether the petitioners are liable to pay service tax under Chapter-V of the Finance Act of 1994 for availing the service of transportation of the tea. To that effect, demand cum show-cause notices of different dates were issued by the Assistant Commissioner of Excise Customs and Good & Services Tax, Guwahati to the different tea estates operated by the petitioner No.1. 3. In respect of Budlapara tea estate, a demand cum show cause notice dated 07.09.2017 was issued for the period from April 2013 to March 2016 by arriving at a conclusion that service tax including cess for an amount of Rs. 3,52,556/- was evaded. Consequent thereto, the Budlapara tea estate was called upon to show cause notice within thirty days as to why service tax including cess amounting to Rs. 3,52,556/- should not be recovered under Section 73(1) of the Finance Act of 1994 and further as to why appropriate interest should not be charged and recovered under Section 75 and further ....
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....uded within the meaning of a person liable to pay freight as provided in Sub-Clauses (a) to (f) of Entry I(A)(ii) of the notification of 20.06.2012. Accordingly, as per the notification of 20.06.2012, the petitioners would be liable to pay service tax including cess. But by another Notification No.25/2012-ST also dated 20.06.2012 of the Govt. of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, certain services included in the Notification No.30/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 were exempted from the purview of levy of service tax including cess. In other words, although by the notification No.30/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012, service tax had been imposed on certain category of services in general, the Notification No.25/12-ST dated 20.06.2012 exempts certain categories of service from the purview of service tax. Subsequently, another Notification No.3/2013-ST dated 01.03.2013, an amendment was brought in to the Notification No.25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012, by which some more specific services were also exempted from the purview of service tax by bringing in addition to the list of services earlier exempted by the Notification No.25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012. By virtue of such amendment wh....
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....des for the services provided by a goods transport agency by way of transport in a goods carriage of food staff including flours, tea, coffee, jaggery, sugar, milk, salt, edible oil including alcoholic beverages. As per the substituted Entry-21(d), transportation of tea by way of goods carriage, stood exempted from the purview of levy of service tax. 11. By a subsequent notification No.6/2015-ST dated 01.03.2015, a further amendment was brought in to Entry 21 of the Notification No.25/2012-ST dated 20.06.2012 by which, the clause (d) stood substituted as follows:- (d) 'milk, salt and food grain including flours, pulses and rice.' 12. The effect of the substitution of Entry-21(d) would be that Clause-d of the Notification No.3/2013-ST dated 01.03.2013 stood removed and substituted by the later Clause-d providing for milk, salt and food grain including flours, pulses and rice. What is noticeable is that the later substituted Clause-d of Entry-21 excludes tea from being included for the purpose of exemption from the purview of service tax. 13. In other words, upon tea being excluded from the provision of Entry-21 Clause-d, the exemption granted for transportation of ....
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....oduced is sold by him one can never reasonably suggest that the flour sold by him is an agricultural produce, because in that event, the manufacturing process goes beyond the limit of making the agricultural produce fit for marketing as such and turns it into a different commodity altogether i.e. flour. But there may be some other kinds of agricultural produce which required some more processing to make it marketable. In the case of such a commodity what one has to judge is to find out whether in relation to that agricultural produce the process applied was minimal or was it so cumbersome and long drawn that either in common parlance, or in the market, or even otherwise, any body would not treat the produce as an agricultural produce. The mere fact that in the case of a particular product the process is a bit longer or even a bit complicated will not rob the produce of its character of being an agricultural produce." 7. Unlike many agricultural products tea-leaves are not marketable in the market fresh from the tea gardens. No body eats tea-leaves. It is meant to be boiled for extracting juice out of it to make tea liquor. Tea-leaves are, therefore, only fit for marketing ....
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....empted service for the purpose of service tax including cess and tea being held to be included as an agricultural produce, therefore, the authorities cannot take a stand which would be contrary to the provision of the notifications inasmuch as, such provision of the notifications are binding on the department. Paragraph 19, 20 and 21 Usha Martin Industries (supra) is as follows:- "19. No doubt the court has to interpret statutory provisions and notifications thereunder as they are with emphasis to the intention of the legislature. But when the Board made all others to understand a notification in a particular manner and when the latter have acted accordingly, is it open to the Revenue to turn against such persons on a premise contrary to such instructions? 20. Section 37-B of the Act enjoins on the Board a duty to issue such instructions and directions to the excise officers as the Board considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of uniformity in the classification of excisable goods or with respect to levy of duty excised on such goods." It is true that Section 37b was inserted in the Act only in December, 1985 but that fact cannot whittle down the binding ....
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.... reference to contemporanea expositio is a well established rule for interpreting a statute by reference to exposition it has received from contemporary authorities, though it must give way where a language of the statute is plain and unambiguous. 42. (5) It is well settled that even if it is assumed that the things are not made clear and explicit in the exemption notifications, it is proper and reasonable to place the construction which is beneficial to the assessee by exempting levy of tax on parts of computer and computer peripherals; 17. The core contention of Mr. A. Mazumdar, learned senior counsel for the petitioners is that the Supreme Court in DS Bist (Supra) having decided that the expression agricultural produce also includes the manufactured tea, therefore, the expression agricultural produce as appears in Entry-21(a) of the Notification No.3/2013-ST dated 01.03.2013 also includes manufactured tea. According to Mr. A. Mazumdar, learned senior counsel, it is another factor that Entry-21(d) of the said notification also provides for tea to be included under the category of food stuff. According to Mr. Mazumdar, tea having been included under Entry- 21(d) in the....
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....f DS Bist (Supra) while analyzing as to whether tea has to be included as an agricultural produce, had dealt into the aspect whether tea leaves had lost their character of being an agricultural produce and became something different after it was subjected to the resultant process. In paragraph-7, a conclusion was arrived at that the tea leaves are not marketable in the market fresh from the tea gardens and nobody eats tea leaves and therefore, the tea leaves become fit for market only when they are subjected to a minimal process for being made fit for human consumption. It was concluded that such process by itself will not substantially change the character of the tea leaves and therefore the tea so processed are also agricultural produce. 22. In Principles of Statutory Interpretation by Justice G.P. Singh, 14th edition in Page-124, it has been provided as follows:- "On the same principle when words acquire a technical meaning because of their consistent use by the Legislature in a particular sense or because of their authoritative construction by superior courts, they are understood in that sense when used in a similar context in subsequent legislation." 23. In view....
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.... the purpose. 26. To the above extent, reference is made to the provisions laid down by the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Central Excise and Finance, Mumbai -vs- Fiat India Private Limited and another, reported in (2012) 9 SCC 332, wherein in paragraph-39, it had been held as follows:- "It is well settled that whenever the legislature uses certain terms or expressions of well-known legal significance or connotations, the courts must interpret them as used or understood in the popular sense if they are not defined under the Act or the Rules framed thereunder." 27. In Fiat India Private Limited (Supra) it had been clearly provided that whenever the legislature uses certain terms or expression of well known legal significance or connotation, the court must interpret them as used or understand in the popular sense and from the said point of view, the meaning given to the expression agricultural produce in DS Bist (Supra) otherwise would have to be accepted in the manner it was provided. But the Supreme Court in Fiat India Private Limited (supra) also provides that the meaning as understood in popular sense would be applicable only if such expressions are not specifica....
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....he producer may undertake is to the extent to make it transportable and presentable in such a market. When the aforesaid situation is compared with that of the manufactured and finished tea, which apparently is being transported by the petitioners, the Court cannot take a different view but to conclude that such transported tea is not for the purpose of being marketed in a primary market where the agricultural produces are being marketed, but on the other hand the transported tea is being marketed as a finished product in the consumer market for its consumption. In view of the above, as to whether the expression agricultural produce appearing in Entry 21(a) of the Notifications No. 3/2013-ST dated 01.03.2013 and 6/2015-ST dated 01.03.2015 includes tea or not would have to be understood from the perspective of the definition of the expression agricultural produce as appearing in Section 65B(5) of the Finance Act of 1994 and not from the perspective of the expression agricultural produce as defined and explained in D.S Bist (Supra). 32. Further, it is also to be taken note of that in the Notification No.3/2013-ST dated 01.03.2013, tea had been included as a food stuff under Entry-....