TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (11) TMI 1051
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....irport Road Metro Station, Mumbai - 400059 (hereinafter referred to as "the Appellant") against the Advance Ruling No. GST-ARA-51/2019-201B-38 dated 17.03.2020, pronounced by the Maharashtra Authority for Advance Ruling (hereinafter referred to as "the MAAR"). BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE 3.1 M/s Saint-Gobain India Private Limited is engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of glass and gypsum products. One of the gypsum products manufactured and marketed by the Appellant is the "Gypsum Board-. 3.2 Gypsum Board is a board / panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum). with or without additives, typically extruded between thick sheets of facer and backer paper, used in construction of interior walls and ceilings. Gypsum Board may be manufactured as plain, laminated and reinforced board and reinforcing materials used include glass, paper, vegetable fibers etc. Currently, the Appellant is manufacturing both paper reinforced and glass reinforced gypsum boards. 3.3 The Appellant is proposing to manufacture a new category of product under "Glass reinforced gypsum board" (hereinafter referred to as "GRG") which is essentially going to be a gypsum plaster, reinforce....
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.... No. GST-ARA-51/2019-20/B-38, dated 17.03.2020 rejected the application filed by the Appellant by holding that the Appellant was not qualifying the "eligibility test- for filing an Advance Ruling before the Authority in terms of Section 95(a) of the CGST Act, 2017, since the proposed product is not in 'existence' at all for obtaining an advance ruling under GST. They further observed that since the issue in the present case pertains to "classification" of a proposed product, they cannot proceed ahead to give the ruling in absence of the physical samples of the proposed product under consideration. 3.9 Aggrieved by the aforesaid Advance Ruling Order, dated 17.3.2020 passed by the MAAR, the Appellant has filed this present appeal. GROUNDS OF APPEAL 4. The Appellant, in their appeal memorandum. inter alia, has mentioned the following grounds of appeal: 4.1 That the issue on which the present appeal is being filed in the instant matter relates to determination of "applicability of a notification issued under the provisions of Act" as covered under Section 97(2)(b) of the CGST Act, 2017 for the product in question namely 'Glass-Fiber Reinforced Gypsum Board'.....
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....e same should be in existence for obtaining an Advance Ruling, the same would be contrary to the language of the provision which prescribes no bar. Hence, it is submitted that under the GST provisions, an Advance Ruling can also be obtained for a product which is not in existence as on the date of the Advance Ruling and which is proposed to be manufactured and supplied. If the intention of the legislature was to the contrary, the same would have been explicitly provided or clarified by way of a subsequent amendment or circular to this effect. Thus, the MAAR has erred in rejecting the application on the said grounds. 4.7 That reference in this regard has been invited to CBIC's GST Flyer on Advance Ruling Mechanism (Chapter 37), wherein it has been stated that "definition of Advance Ruling given under the Act is a broad one and an improvement over the existing systems of advance rulings under Customs and Central Excise Laws. Under GST, Advance Ruling can be obtained for a proposed transaction as well as a transaction already undertaken by the Appellant." Further, the Flyer also explains the importance of Advance Ruling by explaining its objectives. It states that an "advance r....
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....ter than boards of similar nature. However, they come with their shortcomings of having strong compression yet weak tension and giving a low impact strength to the board. Its brittle properties prevent the effective utilization of high compressive strength in structural applications. In order to overcome the said shortcomings, a variant of Gypsum board is produced called "Glass-Fiber Reinforced Gypsum Board". The said product is a variant of the original Gypsum board as -Glass-Fiber- is added to the original composition of the product to increase its reinforcement. 4.12 That it is pertinent to understand the meaning of the term -reinforced-. The term "reinforced", has been defined in various dictionaries as under: • The Merriam Webster dictionary defines "reinforce" as 'to strengthen by additional assistance, material or support: make stronger or more pronounced'. • The Collins dictionary defines "reinforce" as to reinforce an object means to make it stronger or harder'. • The Cambridge dictionary defines "reinforce- as to make something stronger, usually by adding more material or another piece'. 4.13 From the above mean....
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....rovide the benefit of concessional rate of tax to gypsum board reinforced with glass-fiber, containing any quantity of glass-fiber, however miniscule, it may be, and providing reinforcement ability. The benefit of such notification cannot be denied to the Appellant simply on the criteria of quantity of glass-fiber, when such disqualification is not provided under the notification. 4.18 To support the above submission, reliance has been placed on the decision of the Hon'ble Mumbai Tribunal in the case of: (i) Khanna Dyeing & Printing Works v/s Commissioner of Central Excise, Mumbai-III reported at 2000 (118) E.L.T. 637 (Tribunal), wherein the Hon'ble Tribunal inter-alia held that the notification shall be applicable to all fabrics containing nylon yarns and not just fabrics in which the nylon yarn predominates the weight. (ii) Talbros Automotive Components Limited v/s Collector of Customs, Bombay reported at 1984 (15) E.L.T. 193 (Tribunal), wherein the Hon'ble Tribunal held that "on a literal construction, this expression would cover a manufacture which contained mineral fibers or yarn, irrespective of the percentage of the mineral fibers or yarn, an....
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....ions or quantifications have been clearly specified while granting concessional benefits, such as (i) entry under Serial No. 3 of Notification No. 69/2004-Customs dated 9 July 2004, which grants exemption to import of goods covered under notification, from levy of Education Cess, clearly specifying quantifications/conditions. (ii) Notification No. 38/1993 dated 28th February 1993 issued under Central Excise Act, 1944. granting exemption from payment of excise duty to all goods falling under Chapter 68 (except those falling under Heading 68.04), with specific quantifications/conditions. (iii) Notification 12/2012 - Central Excise, dated 17th March 2012 granting exemption from whole of excise duty to specified goods of Chapter 1 to 98. Under Entry 74 of the said notification, exemption is granted to 5% Ethanol blended petrol subject to the condition that the said product should conform to Bureau of Indian Standards specification 2796. Similarly, Entry 75 of the said notification while granting exemption to 10% ethanol blended petrol clearly mentions as a condition. conformance to Bureau of Indian Standards specification 2796. (iv) Entry 94A of the ....
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....Vikash Trading Company v/s Commissioner of Customs, Chennai reported at 2019 (365) ELT 584 (Tri-Chennai) wherein the tribunal in the aforesaid case laid down the principle that in case where the notification (issued by the department) did not prescribe the requirement to conform with any specific standard, the customs/excise department could not mandate the conformance with the same. 4.27 That benefit of the notification should be unconditional in the absence of any specific condition mentioned in the notification. In this regard, reference has been made to Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment in the case of Commissioner of Central Excise, Hyderabad Vs. Sunder Steels Limited reported at 2005 (181) E.L.T. 154 (S.C.), wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court, while awarding exemptions benefits to the assessee in absence of any conditions prescribed in the said notification, inter-alia, observed that the Notification has to be interpreted on its wording. No words, not used in the notification, can be added." 4.28 That under the GST-regime, wherever the intention of the legislature is to grant conditional benefit, the same has been explicitly stated, as is evident from few illustrativ....
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....mined by the accredited laboratory for its specifications with regard to its composition and its essential characteristics. Hence, it is not possible to classify the proposed product under question under any Tariff Item and therefore, it is not possible to offer any comments in respect of the applicability of the entry at SI.No.92 of the Schedule II to the Notification No.1/2017-C.T.(Rate), dated 28.06.2017, which provides for the concessional rate of duty at the rate of 12% for the product falling under the category of glass reinforced gypsum board. PERSONAL HEARING 6. A personal hearing in the matter was held on 15.10.2020, which was attended by Shri R. Nambirajan, Advocate, as the representative of the Appellant, and by Shri Ghanisht Yesu, Deputy Commissioner (Central Tax), as the Jurisdictional officer/Respondent, in the subject appeal matter. 6.1 During the course of the said hearing, Shri Nambirajan reiterated the earlier written submissions incorporated in the appeal memorandum. He also referred to the Advance Ruling pronounced by the West Bengal AAAR in the case of, wherein it was held by the WBAAAR that Akansha Hair & Skin Care Herbal Unit Pvt. Ltd. [2018(16) GSTL....
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....been incorporated as part of the requirements / checklist prescribed at the time of filing the application for advance ruling or prior to admitting the application as per Section 98(2) of the CGST Act, 2017. It was further submitted that right to file an appeal as per Section 100 of the CGST Act, 2017 by the applicant cannot be casually denied on flimsy grounds of procedural technical glitches without scrutiny at the time of admitting the application for advance ruling and now the said requirement cannot be insisted upon. 6.6 It was further submitted by the Appellant that since the matter was not decided on merits by MAAR, therefore, the subject application should be remanded back to the MAAR for reconsideration in terms of Section 101(1) of the CGST Act, 2017 which empowers the Appellate Authority to confirming or modifying the Ruling appealed against. 7. Shri Ghanisht Yesu, appearing in the capacity of the jurisdictional officer, reiterated the earlier submissions, filed before us, wherein it was contended that since the proposed product under question is in hypothetical state, the Advance Ruling as to the classification of the said product, as sought for by the Appellant, ....
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.... passed by the MAAR. As per Section 95 of the CGST Act, 2017 (a) 'advance ruling' means a decision provided by the Authority or the Appellate Authority to an applicant on matters or on questions specified in sub-section (2) of Section 97 or sub-section (1) of Section 100, in relation to the supply of goods or services or both, being undertaken or proposed to be undertaken by the applicant. The section, therefore, envisages that an Advance Ruling can be asked for a transaction undertaken or proposed to be undertaken. Any transaction of supply of goods or services or both, proposed to be undertaken, can be a subject of an application of Advance Ruling. However, the meaning of the expression `proposed to be undertaken' cannot be expanded to include manufacturing, proposed to be undertaken. We agree with the observations of the MAAR in this respect. It is one of the fundamental rules of interpretation that if the words of a statute are in themselves precise and unambiguous, then no more is necessary than to expound those in their natural and ordinary sense as the words themselves in such a case best declare the intention of the legislature. There is no need for an artificia....