TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (4) TMI 190
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....(hereinafter 'DRI'). 4. The short issue that arises in the present petition is in respect of the interpretation of the word 'and' appearing in the clause (iv) of Serial No. 13 of Notification No. 11/2014-Customs dated 11th July, 2014, i.e., "Multiple Input/ Multiple Output (MIMO) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) Products'. The CESTAT vide the impugned order has interpreted the said terms i.e., MIMO and LTE in conjunction and thereby, held that the subject goods would not be covered in the exclusion clause of the exemption notification. 5. The background of the case is that a Notification was issued bearing No. 24/2005 by the Customs Department dated 1st March, 2005 in which exemptions were granted for basic customs duty for products falling under Chapter Heading '8517'. The said entry reads as under: Notification No. 24/005-Customs New Delhi, dated the 1st March,2005 10 Phalguna, 1926 (Saka) G.S.R. No. (E) .-In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the following....
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....media gateways, gateway controllers and session border controllers; (ii) optical transport equipments, combination of one or more of Packet Optical Transport Product or Switch (POTP or POTS), Optical Transport Network (OTN) products, and IP Radios; (iii) Carrier Ethernet Switch, Packet Transport Node (PTN) products, Multiprotocol Label Switching-Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) products; (iv) Multiple Input / Multiple Output (MIMO) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) Products.'. (b) after serial number 39 and the entries relating thereto, the following serial number and the entries shall be inserted, namely :- "40 All chapters All goods for the manufacture of following goods, namely :- (i) soft switches and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) equipment, namely, VoIP phones, media gateways, gateway controllers and session border controllers; (ii) optical transport equipments, combination of one or more of Packet Optical Transport Product or Switch (POTP or POTS), Optical Transport Network(OTN) products, and IP Radios; (iii) Carrier Ethernet Switch, Packet Transport Node (PTN) products, Multiprotocol Label Switching-Transpo....
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....e proceedings under Show Cause Notice and allowing the exemption to the Respondents, before the CESTAT. The said appeal preferred by the Appellants was rejected by the CESTAT. The relevant portion of the order of CESTAT is set out below: "The department has filed this appeal to assail the order dated 17.12.2019 passed by the Additional Director General (Adjudication), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, New Delhi allowing exemption from payment of basic customs duty and, therefore, dropping the demand raised in the show cause notice dated 27.11.2018. 2. M/s Compuage Infocom Ltd. is engaged in the business of distribution and trading of Information Trading products and peripherals. Respondent had imported "Wireless Access Points/MIMO products' falling under Customs Tariff Item 8517 62 90, by claiming benefit of Notification dated 01.03.2005, as amended by Notification dated 11.07.2014. The view of the department is that the MIMO products, whether or not incorporating LTE technology are not entitled for benefit of the said Notification. Consequently, a show cause notice dated 27.11.2018 was issued calling upon the respondent to re-classify the subject products unde....
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....ned, we note that there is a clear absence of word 'products' after 'MIMO', as the same has been put after the word 'LTE'. To put it differently, the word 'products' has been put after the words 'MIMO' and 'LTE', thereby indicating that "MIMO and LTE Products' includes those products which work on both MIMO technology and LTE standard. 45. The interpretation advanced by the Revenue is that the phrase "MIMO and LTE Products' includes three categories - (i) products using MIMO but not LTE, (ii) products using LTE but not MIMO, and (iii) products using both MIMO and LTE. In the written submissions filed on behalf of the Revenue, it has been asserted that the grammatically, the only possible way to fulfil this intention was to add the word 'and' between 'MIMO' and 'LTE' and then suffix the term 'products' after 'MIMO and LTE' as the same would have the meaning of 'MIMO product and LTE product'. 46. However, in our opinion, the aforesaid contention is unmerited. If the intention of the Central Government was to include products utilizing e....
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.... is ambiguity or absurdity arising from its literal interpretation. 52. In this regard, it would be relevant to take note of the following passage from G.P. Singh's Principles of Statutory Interpretation (15th Edn.): "The word "or' is normally disjunctive and "and' is normally disjunctive but at times they are read as vice versa to give effect to the manifest intention of the Legislature' 53. In the present case, there is no such ambiguity or absurdity. In our view, when all the four entries of Serial No. 13 are analysed, it would lead to only one conclusion that the word "and' is to be read in conjunctive manner only, and the phrase "MIMO and LTE Products' would refer to only those products which have both MIMO technology and LTE standard. 54. As far as the argument of the Revenue that in the year 2021, the Notification No. 25/2005, and one Notification No. 57/2017-Customs were amended and the phrase "MIMO and LTE Products' were substituted with (i) MIMO products; (ii) LTE products', and that these amendments were clarificatory in nature, is concerned, notably, an amendment in the Notification No. 57/2017-Customs was brought vide Finance Act, 2021 wh....