2019 (5) TMI 643
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....before this Court in W.P. (C) No.7198/2016 (The Central Press Private Limited v. Union of India) = 2016 (9) TMI 323 - DELHI HIGH COURT . There the publisher contended that their 'work books' were used in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan as a basic tool for education. By an order dated 31st August 2016, this Court directed the Central Board of Excise and Customs ('CBEC') to consider all aspects of the matter and pass an appropriate order. 3. In examining the said issue pursuant to the order passed by this Court, the CBEC issued a Circular No.1057/6/2017 - CX dated 7th July, 2017 where, inter alia, it was observed as under: "(ii) The issue has been examined. Exercise Books have been explained in HSN under explanatory note (2} to Heading 48.20 as, ''These may simply contain sheets of lined paper but may also include printed examples of handwriting for copying in manuscript". Such exercise Books are specifically classified under heading 4820 of the erstwhile CETA, 1985. These are nothing but stationary items having blank pages with lines for writing and may also include printed texts for copying manually. In common parlance they are more akin to handwriting "note books" for practis....
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....under HSN 4820. Another issue raised by the Petitioner was whether a person exclusively supplying goods that are wholly exempted under tax is required to be registered under the GST Act. 5. The Authority for Advancing Ruling (AAR) passed an order dated 6th April, 2018 holding that the aforementioned books Sulekh Sarita Parts I to V, printed and sold by the Petitioner, are classifiable as 'Exercise Books' under HSN 4820. The AAR also held the Petitioner has to get itself registered if it had GST liability under Reverse Charge Mechanism ('RCM') i.e. under Section 24 (iii) of the CGST Act notwithstanding that under Section 23 (i) (a), it may not be liable to pay any tax. 6. It is significant that in the present petition, which challenges the aforementioned order of the AAR, all the grounds raised by the Petitioner pertain to the first issue regarding classification of the books printed and sold by the Petitioner and not the second issue concerning registration under the CGST Act. Learned counsel for the Petitioner states that notwithstanding the ruling of the AAR against it on the second issue, the Petitioner has got itself registered under the CGST Act. Accordingly, this Court is n....
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....wer questions. The student is expected to write down the meaning of Hindi words. The student is expected to write a short essay on a given aspect. 10. It appears from reading the book Sulekh Sarita Part V (and this holds good for the other Parts I to IV) as a whole that while in the initial phases, the teacher is expected to guide the student and the book is used as a tool in that endeavour, there are substantial portions of the book where after completing that phase, the student is asked to write words of his or her own. For instance in page 16, the student is expected to listen to at least 40 difficult words that the teacher might speak out in the class and write down those words in the space provided in the book. In other words, the student is not merely copying from a printed text. Here the listening and retentive abilities of the student are being tested. 11. Then there are at least three pages (50 to 52) where the Hindi word is given in the left hand column and the student is expected to give the meaning of the word, in Hindi, after locating it in the dictionary. This again is not a mechanical exercise of simply copying from a written text that is already provided in the bo....
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....he classroom and for testing the understanding of the child of that which has been taught. 15. While no two cases are identical, it may be useful to refer to a few decisions only to understand the approach the Court is expected to adopt in matters of classification. In C.C. (General), New Delhi v. Gujarat Perstorp Electronics Ltd. 2005 (186) ELT 532 (SC) = 2005 (8) TMI 657 - SUPREME COURT, the Supreme Court was seized of the issue "whether the goods and materials imported by the Company in the form of FEEP comprising of equipments, drawings, designs and plans are classifiable under Chapter Heading 49.01 or 49.06 of Schedule 1 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and the Company is entitled to the benefit under Notification Nos. 107/93-Cus and 38/94-Cus. or they are classifiable under Chapter Heading 4911.99 as contended by the department?"In the process of answering the said question in favour of the Assessee, the Supreme Court observed as under: "In popular sense, "book" means a collection of a number of leaves or sheets of paper or of other substance, blank, written or printed, of any size, shape and value, held together along one of the edges so as to form a material whole and pr....