TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (5) TMI 843
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....t the rate of 18%; iii. any other writ, order or direction as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and allow this petition with cost. 2. Heard Sri. Ravi Raghavan and Sri. Sudeshna Bannerjee, learned counsel for petitioner, Smt. Vanita K.R., learned counsel for respondent Nos. 4 and 5 and Sri. Jeevan J Neeralgi, learned Additional Government Advocate for respondent Nos. 1 and 2. 3. Facts leading to the filing of this writ petition are that the petitioner is engaged in the business of printing books, magazines, calendars, diaries, bank passbooks, bank account opening forms and various other stationery items required for banking industry, educational institutions and various other customers. The petitioner is registered with Goods and Service Tax Authorities vide GST Registration No. 29AABCM516H1Z8. The Government of Telengala through Telengana State Technology Services Limited (hereinafter referred to as TSTS) invited bids for secured printing and delivery of Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed to all pattadars and land owners vide tender No. TSTS/CSCCLA-PPB-TD/2017 dated 23.02.2018 on behalf of the Chief Commissioner Land....
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.... the impugned order dated 04.02.2020 upholding that the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is not a document of title and not classifiable under Chapter Heading 4907 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1965 (for short CT Act) and appropriately classified under Chapter Heading 4820 of the CT Act. The petitioner received the said order on 10.07.2020. The petitioner has challenged the said order dated 04.02.2020 passed by the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, Karnataka, under Section 100 of CGST Act/KGST Act in the present writ petition. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioner would contend that the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is not covered under any of the specific entries and hence its classification under Tariff Entry 4907 00 90 is appropriate. Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is ultimately used by a Pattadar in relation to agricultural land and therefore the classification of such passbook as a document of title or otherwise has to be understood in the context of various land disputes. The Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed confers ownership of entitlement to certain financial interests or benefits named in such deed. As per the details in scope of work at page No. 20 of the t....
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....uthority and the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling and submitted that the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is not a document of title and it is only a revenue record and the entries made in the revenue records cannot form the basis for declaration of title. They have further contended that the authority for Advance Ruling and the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling have rightly classified the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed under Chapter head 4820. They further contended that the decisions relied upon by the learned counsel for the petitioner are rendered in civil property disputes and they will not help the petitioner in contending that the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is a title deed and it comes under the head 4907. 7. We have carefully considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and also gone through the records of the case. 8. The issue before us is regarding the classification of `Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed' "Whether it is a document of title classifiable under HSN-4904 as claimed by the petitioner or it is an article of stationary classifiable under HSN-4820 as held by the authority for Advance Ruling and the A....
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....ing under Chapter 48 or 49 [including newspapers, books (including Braille books), journals and periodicals], which attract CGST @ 6% or 2.5% or Nil, where only content is supplied by the publisher and the physical inputs including paper used for printing belongs to the printer, is chargeable to Central Tax @ 6%. Therefore, classification of Pattadar Passbook cum Title Deed has to be determined as per CT Act and HSN. 12. The petitioner submitted that the product Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is not covered under any of the specific entries and hence its classification under Tariff Entry 4907 00 90 is appropriate. The relevant portion of Chapter Heading 4907 of the CT Act is extracted hereunder: Tariff Item Description of goods Unit 4907 Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current or new issue in the country in which they have, or will have, a recognized face value,; stamp-impressed paper; banknote; cheque forms; stock, share or bond certificates and similar documents of title: 4907 00 Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current or new issue in the country in which they have, or will have, a recognized face value; stampimpresse....
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....k Act, 1971, it is obligatory on the part of any person having interest or right in land to produce title deed and pass book before the registering authority appointed under the Registration Act, 1908 along with the documents he proposes to get registered and it shall be obligatory on the part of such registering authority to make entry of every transaction of sale, gift purchase, mortgage, lease or exchange in such title deed and pass book at the appropriate place or places under his signature and official seal. Further, Section 6D(2) provides that notwithstanding anything contained in the Registration Act, 1908, the registering authority shall not register any document relating to a transaction of the nature refereed to in sub-section(1) without the production of the title deed and pass book by both the parties to the transaction. From the above provisions, it can be inferred that transfer of title can be registered only on production of the title deed and pass book by transferor as well as transferee. 15. The petitioner contents that the Pattadar Passbook cum Title Deed cannot be classified under Chapter Heading 4820 as this chapter covers items such as registers, acco....
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....chase or mortgage, such sale or purchase or mortgage document has to be registered before the registering authority by paying registration fee and stamp duty. Such registered document will have fiduciary value and is considered as document of title. Further if any person effects any alienation or transfer of land without such registered document, either alienee or the transferee has to deposit registration fees and the stamp duty in accordance with the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908 and get the certificate from the Mandal Revenue officer. In such cases the certificate issued by the revenue officer is considered as document of title. Therefore, either a registered document or certificate issued from the Mandal revenue officer after paying registration fee and stamp duty is considered as document of title and on the basis of such document of title the revenue authority updates the Record Rights. The updated information in the Record of Rights is entered in the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed. Therefore, the Pattadar Passbook cum Title Deed is not a document of title as claimed by the petitioner and is not classifiable under Chapter Heading 4907 of the Customs Tariff Act. ....
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....he revenue authorities. 23. In Rajeshwari Home Developers India (P) Ltd., supra the Madras High Court has held that, under the Andhra pradesh Records of Rights Act, the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deeds are more or less ultimate authority regarding the title of the property in respect of agricultural lands. 24. In Salapu Ramanna and others, supra, the High Court of Andhra pradesh has held as under: "5. At the interlocutory stage, the trial Court has to depend mostly upon the documentary evidence. The pattadar passbooks and title deeds issued in favour of the parties assume significance, in view of the presumption provided for under the Act. It may be true that the entries in 1-B register constitute the basis for issuing a pattadar pass book. However, if the pattadar pass book is issued in respect of a piece of land, ignoring the entries in 1-B register, it would constitute a ground for the aggrieved party, to prefer appeal under Section 5-B of the Act. As long as the pattadar pass book remains, the presumption deserves to be drawn and the Court cannot ignore the same." 25. In District Collector and others, supra, the High Court of Andhra pradesh has held as under....