1. The interpretation of the 5 year period of eligibility for concessional rate of clearance of 'paper' and 'paper board' falling under TI 17(1) of the Schedule to the erstwhile Central Excise Tariff in terms of Notification No. 108/81 as amended arises for consideration in this appeal. According to the Department, the 5 year period is to be reckoned from 24-4-1981 i.e. the date of issue of Notification 108/81 while the respondents' contention is that the period is to be calculated from 2-4-1984, the date of issue of Notification 83/84 amending the earlier notification so as to bring "paper and paper-board" within its ambit.
2. The facts necessary for appreciation of the dispute are that the respondents cleared kraft paper at concessional rate from the date of 1st clearance i.e. from 19-8-1979 in terms of Notification 108/81 as amended by Notification 83/84 and also availed the extended period as per amendment to the same notification by Notification 214/84 dated 9-11-1984; calculating the 5 year period from the date of the original Notification i.e. from 24-4-1981 which date was later than the date of first clearance of the said goods. By this reckoning, the period expired on 23-4-1986. The respondents, however, took the stand that the concession was available till 1-4-1989, i.e. 5 years from 2-4-1984 which is the date from which paper and paper-board were brought within the purview of concession vide Notification 83/84. The adjudicating authority held against the assessees while the lower appellate authority held that "the appellants shall enjoy the concession incorporated in the Notification for a period of 5 years from the first clearance of such goods or from the date of the respective Notifications whichever is later". Hence this appeal by the Revenue.
3. We have heard Shri K.K. Bhatia, learned Jt. CDR and Shri Ashok Desai, learned Senior Advocate for Shri C. Chidambaram, Consultant.
4. The concerned Notifications are reproduced below, in order to understand the true scope: 108/81-C.E., dated 24-4-1981, 83/84 dated 2-4-1984 & 214/84 dated 9-11-1984.
1. "Partial exemption to printing and writing paper other than poster paper:- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) of rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, the Central Government hereby exempts printing and writing paper (other than poster paper) falling under sub-item (1) of Item No. 17 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) (hereinafter referred to as the said goods) from so much of the duty of excise leviable thereon as is in excess of the duty calculated at the rate of fifty per cent of the rate of duty leviable on the said goods read with any relevant notification issued under sub-rule (1) of rule 8 of the said Rules and in force for the time being: (i) the said goods are manufactured out of pulp containing not less than seventy-five per cent by weight of pulp made from bamboo or wood or from a mixture of both produced within the same factory in which the said goods are manufactured; (ii) the said goods are manufactured in a factory from which the clearances of paper or paper board falling under Item No. 17 of the said First Schedule are effected for the first time during the period commencing on the 1st day of April 1979 and ending with the 31st day of March 1984.
(iii) the paper making machinery, meant for manufacturing the said goods, had not been used at any time prior to its installation in the said factory and a certificate to this effect issued by the Development Officer of the Directorate-General of Technical Development is produced before the Assistant Collector of Central Excise.
Provided further that the exemption in this notification shall not apply to clearances of the said goods effected after the expiry of a period of five years from the date of first clearance of the said goods from such factory: Provided also that exemption in this notification shall not apply to such of the clearances of the said goods as are in excess of the clearances of the said goods in respect of which the aggregate of the differences between the amount of duty payable (including special duty of excise, if any, payable thereon), but for this notification and the amount of duty paid (including special duty of excise, if any, paid thereon), at the concessional rate prescribed under this notification equals thirty per cent of the sum total of the value of the capital investment made on the plant and machinery for the manufacture of the said goods prior to the date of the first clearance of the said goods as certified by the Development Officer of the Directorate-General of Technical Development.
Explanation I. - For the purposes of this notification, "amount of duty payable" shall be the amount calculated by applying the rate of excise duty leviable on the said goods, but for this notification, to the assessable value of the said goods as approved by the proper officer for the purposes of this notification.
Explanation II. - For the purposes of computing the "sum-total of the value of the capital investment made on the plant and machinery for the manufacture of the said goods", the face value of the capital investment at the time when such investment was made only shall be taken into account, but the value of the investment made on plant and machinery which have been removed permanently from the said factory or rendered unfit for use prior to the date of first clearance of the said goods, shall be excluded.
Explanation III. - The expression "assessable value" in Explanation I means the value as determined in accordance with the provisions of Section 4 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944).
2. Partial exemption to printing and writing paper other than poster paper:- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) of rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, the Central Government hereby make the following further amendment in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) No. 108/81 - Central Excises, dated the 24th April, 1981, namely: In the said notification: (i) in the opening paragraph, for the words, brackets and figures "printing and writing paper (other than poster paper) falling under sub-item (1) of Item No. 17 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) (hereinafter referred to as the said goods) from so much of the duty of excise leviable thereon as is in excess of the duty calculated at the rate of fifty per cent of the rates of duty leviable on the said goods", the words, brackets and figures "paper and paper board falling under sub-item (1) of Item No. 17 of the First Schedule to the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944)(hereinafter referred to as the said goods) from so much of the duty of excise leviable thereon under Section 3 of the said Act, as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate of eight per cent of the rate of duty leviable on the said goods under the said First Schedule" shall be substituted; (ii) in the first proviso, in clause (ii), for the figures, letters and words "31st day of March, 1984", the figures, letters and words "31st day of March, 1987" shall be substituted; (iii) in the third proviso, for the words "the Development Officer of the Directorate General of Technical Development", the words "the Development Officer of the Directorate General of Technical Development or by the General Manager of the Industrial Development Bank of India" shall be substituted; (iv) after the third proviso and before Explanation I, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely: 2. Nothing contained in this notification shall apply to cigarette tissue, glassine paper, grease proof paper, coated paper (including waxed paper) and paper of a substance not exceeding 25 grammes per square metre." 3. Partial exemption to printing and writing paper other than poster paper (Tariff Item 17):- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) of rule 8 of the Central Excise Rules, 1944, the Central Government hereby makes the following further amendments in the Notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) No. 108/81-Central Excises, dated the 24th April, 1981, namely: In the said Notification, for the second proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted namely: "Provided further that the exemption contained in this Notification shall not apply to clearances of the said goods effected after the expiry of a period of five years from the date of first clearance of the said goods from such factory or the date of publication of this Notification in the Official Gazette, whichever is later." 5. As seen from the above, the concession originated in Notification 108/81-CE which specified the "said goods". Paper and paper boards falling under TI 17(I) came within the coverage of the Notification by virtue of Notification 83/84. The condition for eligibility stipulated in clause 2 of the proviso to Notification 108/81 was amended so as to extend the period till 31-3-1987. By Notification 214/84 the second proviso to Notification 108/81 relating to the 5 year period was amended so as to provide for a period of 5 years from the date of first clearance of the said goods from such factory or the date of publication of this notification in the official gazette whichever is later.
6. In this case the first clearance of the said goods i.e. kraft paper, was admittedly effected on 19-8-1979, and therefore, the 5 year period calculated from the date of the Notification 108/81 was fully availed of till its expiry on 23-4-1986. The notification does not contemplate that the 5 year period of concession should be made applicable to kraft paper from the date of amending Notification 83/84 even though kraft paper was entitled to concession only from 1984 when the Central Excise Tariff was amended and paper and paper board was classified under TI 17(I) only from 1984. The notifications do not provide that the 5 year period is to be reckoned for printing and writing paper, paper and paper boards, separately with effect from any date other than the date specified in Notification 108/81. The argument of the learned Sr.
Advocate that in case the 5 year period is calculated from the date of the original Notification i.e. from 24-4-1981, kraft paper will not enjoy concession for 5 years which was the intention of the Government while extending the said concession to kraft paper cannot be accepted as it is not enjoyment of the concession that is relevant but the grant of exemption for the period clearly stipulated in the Notification. The language of the Notification is very clear and there is no room for intendment in a fiscal statute, as has been held by the Tribunal in the case of Guest Keen Williams Ltd. v. Collector of Customs, Calcutta reported in 1987 (29) E.L.T. 68. In that case the Tribunal held that it is an accepted position that a Notification should be interpreted on the basis of the language used therein and not on the basis of intendment or by supplying words or by ignoring them.
7. The learned Senior Counsel argues that the Notification lays emphasis on "said goods" and since paper and paper board falling under TI-17(I) became the "said goods" only w.e.f. 1984, the first clearance of the said goods cannot be computed from 1-4-1979 or thereafter but only from 1984 - there is a fallacy in this argument as the concept of "first clearance" cannot be shifted with change in Tariff - it is a fixed, unvarying and constant factor. The appellants' contention that there is an anomaly in Notification 83/84 inasmuch as it seeks to bring paper and paper-board within the scope of TI 17(I) w.e.f. 1981 (i.e.
from the date of issue of original Notification 108/81) when the items were classified in the Tariff itself only in 1984 is not well founded - there is no anomaly. The main object of Notification 83/84 is to substitute paper and paper-board falling within TI 17(I) for printing and writing paper (Other than poster paper) falling under TI 17(I) as the goods entitled to concession, it alters the concessional rate of duty and extends the period prescribed in the first proviso to 31-3-1987 instead of up to 31-3-1984. Viewed from this angle the submission regarding the ceiling limit of concession of 30% of the value of capital investment on plant and machinery is extraneous and not germane to the dispute and has no bearing thereon.Union of India v. Suksha International reported in 1989 (39) E.L.T. 503 does not advance the appellants' case - the Court held therein that an interpretation that unduly restricts the scope of a beneficial construction is to be avoided so that it may not take away with one hand what the Import-Export Policy gives with the other. In the present appeal, however, such a situation does not exist. The appellants are not denied the benefit of concession and in fact they have been availing of it from 19-8-1979 i.e. from the date of first clearance of kraft paper till 23-4-1986 i.e. till the end of the period of 5 years from the date of issue of Notification 108/81 dated 24-4-1981.
9. In the light of the above discussions we hold that the respondents are eligible for concession only upto 23-4-1986. We, therefore, set aside the impugned order and allow the appeal.