TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1985 (2) TMI 51
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....of the said Entry No. 6. The Customs authorities therefore denied them the exemption from the customs duty available under the said Notification, and hence, the present petition. 2. The contention of the Petitioners is that the exemption granted by the said Notification is available to the goods imported by them since they answer the general illustrative nomenclature of Polymerisation, although they may not answer the description of the three specific items mentioned in the said entry since the exemption is available to all the goods answering the broad nomenclature of Polymerisation and Copolymerisation products. As against this, it is the contention of the Respondents that the exemption is granted only to the specific three items named separately in the said entry and not to all the goods answering the general nomenclature. 3. In order to appreciate the rival contentions it is necessary to reproduce the relevant portion of the Notification as well as the Entry No. 6 in its entirety: - "G.S.R. 711(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, being satisfied that it is necessary in ....
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....rs to me clear that the goods which are exempted are essentially those which are specified in column (2) of the Table. That the notification also describes the said goods further by adding another expression viz; "and falling under the Heading Number in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act 1975 (51 of 1975), specified in the corresponding entry in column (3) of the said table is only in the nature of a further description of the said goods and is for the purpose of their fuller identification. However, primarily it is the description of the goods given in column (2) which is to be looked to, to find out the specific goods exempted under the Notification. The next important thing which has to be borne in mind is that the Table in the Notification reproduces the nomenclature verbatim from the First Schedule of the said Act since the Notification is issued under the said Act. Where therefore the table reproduces such nomenclature without qualifying it in any manner, it will have to be presumed that all the goods which answer the said nomenclature are exempted by the Notification. However, where the table does not merely reproduce the nomenclature but purports to qualify ....
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....swer the general description of Polymerisation and Copolymerisation products, the whole of their general illustrative nomenclature has been reproduced first from the said Heading Number 39.01/06 in Entry 6 in order to identify them and they are specifically and separately mentioned thereafter. All the Polymerisation and Copolymerisation products together with other products bear the same Heading Number 39.01/06 in the Schedule. It is for this reason that in order to identify the exempted goods the Notification also adds by way of parenthesis the further description, namely, as "and falling under Heading Number in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act 1975". Much importance should therefore not be given to the fact as to whether the Heading Number and the rate of exemption granted are mentioned against the general nomenclature of the goods exempted or against the exempted goods themselves. The Notification makes it clear that it is the goods which are specified in column (2) of the Table and falling under the Heading Number in the First Schedule to the Act which are granted the exemption stated in column (4) of the Table. The rest of the contents of the Table have to be const....
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....t contain any such expressions and yet specific products are extracted from the general nomenclature of the entries and mentioned separately. All that can be said in this behalf is that whoever drafts the Notifications does not follow a uniform practice and adopt a similar pattern of language. There is also much looseness in language used in the Notifications. This is illustrated by Entry 95 of the said Notification No. 341. The entry mentions seven specific goods belonging to the Polymerisation family serially in items (1) to (7) and thereafter item (8) states "others". The enumeration of item (8) as "others" would show that all the goods belonging to the Polymerisation family are covered by the said entry. Hence there was no need to enumerate any of the items specifically. Yet for reasons which only the draftsman knows the entry has been incorporated in the said manner in the said Notification. So is the case with Entries 94, 96 and 125 of the said Notification. Hence no help can be had from the other entries either in the same Notification or in other Notifications to gather the meaning of the specific entry which falls for our consideration in the present case. 8. Hence the ....