1991 (10) TMI 46

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....ithin Item 30, sub-item (4) of the Tariff under the Central Excises and Salt Act which reads thus: "Electric Motors, all sorts and parts thereof, namely: xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx 4. Parts of electric motors. Explanation - This item does not include motors specially designed for use in gramophones or record players and all parts of such motors." According to the respondents, starter armatures were parts of automotive starter motors. They could not rotate and start the automotive engine by themselves; they had to be fitted into a starter housing which consisted of various other parts. While the principle of the operation of a starter motor and that of an electric motor might be the same, functionally they....

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....s were correct in their contention, the Government said, that in interpreting an item in a taxing statute the meaning attached to the item by the trade should be given importance, but the respondents had not been able to put forth any argument showing that a starter motor was not an electric motor. All that they had said was that a starter motor found use only in an automobile and should, therefore, be considered as a motor vehicle part. The Government was of the view that the moment the starter armature was classifiable under Item 30, it was not classifiable under Item 34-A. 4. The order in revision was impugned in the writ petition. Annexed to the writ petition were two certificates, one issued by the Bombay Motor Merchants' Associatio....

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.... the automobile ancillaries market and not from the electric motors market. 5. Mr. Master, learned counsel for the appellants, submitted that of the two rival entries, Item 30, sub-Item (4) was specific and was, therefore, applicable to the starter armatures. In his submission, "admittedly, starter motors were part of electric motors". We asked Mr. Master repeatedly to show us where this admission was made. He referred, first, to the order of the Government in revision citing the two grounds in the Revision Application which we have quoted. He referred next to the order of the Appellate Collector of Central Excise which notes only this "admission" on the part of the respondents that a starter armature is used as a rotor for starting; it ....