Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : (2001)9SCC181
kuldip singh and; s. saghir ahmad, jj.1. in this petition in public interest under article 32 of the constitution of india, various directions have been sought from this court pertaining to dahanu taluka, state of maharashtra, which has been declared by the central government as an ecologically-fragile area by the notification dated 20-6-1991.2. it is stated in the petition that dahanu is a rich area in agricultural economy and is a source of supply of fodder, grass, rice, cereals, milk, poultry and fish to the people living in the region. it is known as food bowl of the region producing 37 thousand tons of chikoos per month, 1825 tons of guava, and 21.9 lakhs of coconuts. the fish catch in the area is stated to be more than 3.7 lakh tons of crabs, pomfret and other fishes and 17 thousand tons of prawns. it is further stated that dahanu is the last surviving green zone between bombay and surat. 49% of its total area is under forest cover. 47 thousand hectares of the taluka is reserved and protected forest, harbouring a rich variety of wildlife including some of the endangered species such as leopards, spotted deer, barking deer and mouse deer, etc. the creeks and sea inlets at dahanu are the feeding grounds for various types of fishes. it is stated that the government has itself earmarked the dahanu region for prawn culture and fish-farming and for this reason it has already invested huge amount of money in a seed-farm at bada pokharah across the dahanu creek. .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : 1996(88)ELT609(SC); 1996(8)SCALE396; (1997)9SCC738; [1996]Supp8SCR757
1. the first dispute in this case relates to the question whether the licence fees paid to m/s. midrex international b.v. zurich, (midrex) should be added to the invoice value of the plant bought by m/s. essar gujarat limited (egl). the plant was originally installed at emden, germany, in 1981 by a firm which went into liquidation. nord/lb, a bank, was appointed receiver of the plant. the bank floated a global tender for the sale of the plant on 'as is where is' basis. egl made an offer of dm 26 million for the plant, but could not obtain clearance of government of india for payment within the stipulated period. the deal, therefore, fell through. the bank sold the plant to m/s. teviot investments limited (til). on 24th march, 1987, egl entered into a contract with til for purchase of the direct reduction iron plant on certain terms and conditions. the entire agreement was subject to two conditions (1) approval of government of india within 30th april, 1987 and (2) obtaining transfer of the operation licence from m/s. midrex of charlotte, usa. the contention before this court, on behalf of the appellant, collector of customs, has been that these clearly were the conditions which had to be fulfilled before the sale could take place. as a matter of fact, egl obtained transfer of the operation licence from midrex before proceedings with the dismantling of the plant and exporting the plant in semi-knocked-down condition to india. on the other hand, it has been contended on behalf .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : (1998)1CALLT1(SC); (1998)1GLR269; JT1997(1)SC129; 1996(9)SCALE421; (1997)2SCC42; [1996]Supp10SCR416
s. saghir ahmad, j.1. leave granted.2. water is a mineral within the meaning of mines act, 1952 read with section 2(ba) of the petroleum and minerals pipelines (acquisition of right of user in land) act, 1962 (for short, the act) or not is the question raised by the respondent in this appeal.3. appellant owns survey plot nos. 780, 781 913/1, 914, 893, 918/223, 924/2, 923, 926 of moja ichchapur tehsil choryasi, district surat which were notified on 23.6.83 under section 3(1) of the act. for acquiring the right of user in those plots to enable the respondent no. 2, namely, the oil and natural gas commission, in whom the rights were ultimately vested, to lay pipelines for transporting petroleum from one place to another, a notification was issued under section 3(1) of the act on 23.6.83. this notification was followed by notification dated 16.1.84 issued under section 6(1) of the act and the right of user in the aforesaid land stood acquired for laying the pipelines. it was also indicated in that notification that the right of user in the said lands shall, instead of vesting in the central government, vest in the oil and natural gas commission.4. in pursuance of the aforesaid notifications, oil and natural gas commission (for short, ongc) laid down pipelines in the aforesaid plots of land for transportation of petroleum from utran terminal to kribhco terminal.5. the right to user having vested in the ongc, they initially laid one 12' gas pipeline through the said land (30 metres .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : 2000(121)ELT17(SC); (1997)10SCC235
orders.p. bharucha and s.b. majmudar, jj.1. it was found as a fact that the respondents fit, part by part, specialised equipment on to a motor vehicle chassis so as to produce the sort of specialised motor vehicle that is commonly seen at airports and the like. finding that the specialised equipment had not been assembled first and then mounted onto the chassis, the tribunal referred to explanation ii of item 34 of the erstwhile excise tariff, which was applicable, and held that the authorities below had been in error in seeking to levy excise duty under entry 68 on the specialised equipment on the chassis. 2. this view is so plainly correct that it is not necessary to go into the alternative contention on behalf of the assessee, which was also accepted by the tribunal. 3. the civil appeal is dismissed, with no order as to costs.
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : 1997(92)ELT36(SC); (1997)11SCC148
orders.p. bharucha, j. 1. this is an appeal against the judgment and order of the customs, excise and gold (control) appellate tribunal relating to the classification of what are known as rice rubber rolls. these are rubber sheets wrapped on malleable steel shells by a wrapping machine. after removal from the wrapping machine, they are cured in a hydraulic press and then vulcanised in open steam vulcanisers. they are then cut to the required lengths. the rice rubber rolls are used in the rice milling industry for shelling rice. they are fitted onto such machinery, utilising their hollow spaces for that purpose.2. the assessee contended that the rice rubber rolls manufactured by it should be classified under tariff item 40.09 which deals with 'tubes, pipes and hoses of vulcanised rubber, other than hard rubber, with or without their fittings (for example, joints, elbows, flanges)'. it is pointed out by learned counsel for the assessee that item 40.09 includes tubes, pipes and hoses 'designed to perform the function of conveying air, gas or liquid' (4009.92) as also 'other' tubes, pipes and hoses (4009.99). it is submitted that item 40.09 is the most specific heading applicable to rice rubber rolls.3. the revenue contends that rice rubber rolls fall under item 40.16 which deals with 'other articles of vlucanised rubber other than hard rubber', and the contention of the revenue was accepted by the tribunal in the order under appeal.4. it is true that at different times the .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : AIR1997SC1988; 2002(82)ECC3; 1997(91)ELT13(SC); JT1997(3)SC639; 1997(2)SCALE732; (1997)10SCC350; [1997]2SCR825
ordersujata v. manohar, j. 1. these appeals, which are at the instance of the collector of central excise, raise common questions regarding the classification of laminated sheets. three varieties of laminated sheets are involved in these appeals :(1) decorative laminated sheets ; (2) industrial laminated sheets which are paper based and; (3) glass epoxy laminated sheets.2. the manufacturing process of decorative laminated sheets has been described by the manufactures. paper is passed through or immersed in a resin bath (phenol formaldehyde resin) so that the paper is impregnated with resin. this paper is then dried. at this stage the paper which is impregnated with resin is known as 'prepreg - p' ('p' stands for paper). layers of prepreg paper are then stacked. the top layer consists of paper which has a decorative design on it and which is impregnated with resin. the sheets of papers so stacked are then pressed together in a hydraulic press applying pressure and heat to make a laminated sheet. in the process, the resin passes through the pores of paper and acts as a binder. the end product is a hard rigid sheet which is impact resistant and is unaffected by heat or moisture. these decorative laminated sheets are sold in the market and they are commonly used for surfacing of furniture.3. in the case of industrial laminates which are paper based, the process of manufacture is similar except that the paper which is used is electrical grade craft paper. these industrial .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : 1998VAD(SC)323; AIR1998SC2556; 1998(61)ECC448; 1998(101)ELT561(SC); JT1998(5)SC77; 1998(4)SCALE99; (1998)5SCC621; [1998]3SCR631
orders.c. agrawal, j.1. m/s. bakelite hylam limited, the appellant in these appeals, [hereinafter referred to as 'the appellant], manufactures laminated boards and sheets. the laminated sheets are paper based, cotton fabric based and glass fabric based. for manufacturing paper based laminated sheet paper is passed through or immersed in a resin bath (phenol formaldehyde resin) and as a result the paper is impregnated with resin. this paper is then dried. the paper which is impregnated with resin is known as 'prepeg-p'. layers of 'prepeg-p' are then stacked and the sheets so stacked are then pressed together in a hydraulic press applying pressure and heat to make a laminated sheet. the process of manufacturing cotton fabric and glass fabric based laminated sheets is similar. in case of cotton fabric based laminated sheets cotton fabric is impregnated with resin and dried. such fabric which is so impregnated is known as 'prepeg-f'. it is also described as 'prepeg-c'. in glass fabric based laminated sheets glass fabric is impregnated with resin and the impregnated sheet is known as 'prepeg-g'. the question which falls for consideration in these appeals is with regard to the classification of these products, namely, 'prepeg-p', 'prepeg-f and 'prepeg-g', for the purpose of levy of excise duty under the erstwhile central excise tariff [hereinafter referred to as 'the tariff] contained in the first schedule to the central excises & salt act, 1944.2. the central excise and gold ( .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : AIR1999SC1647; JT1999(2)SC410; 1999(2)SCALE283; (1999)4SCC630; [1999]2SCR195; [1999]114STC520(SC)
m. jagannadha rao, j.1. leave granted.2. this appeal is preferred by the state of tamil nadu and the commercial tax officer, harbour-i, assessment circle, chennai against the judgment of the high court of madras in writ appeal no. 1015 of 1994 dated 10.12.1996. by that judgment, the division bench allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment passed by the learned single judge in writ petition no. 5509 of 1994 dated 30th march, 1994. the learned single judge had dismissed the writ petition no. 5509 of 1994 filed by the first respondent, the board of trustees of the port trust of madras (hereinafter called the 'port trust') and by the judgment under appeal, the writ petitions stood allowed and the notices issued by the second appellant, the commercial tax officer on 1.9.1993 and 8.2.1994 stood quashed. 3. the facts are as follows:the madras port trust is now a major port trust governed by the provisions of the major port trusts act, 1963 (earlier it was governed by an act of 1905). it provides services of landing, shipping or trans-shipping, receiving, shifting, transporting, storing or delivery of goods brought into the premises of the port trust, goods are brought into the port trust and delivered to the importee/consignee or their cleaning agents etc. goods are also exported through the port trust by means of its services. in the case of unlearned or abandoned goods, the port trust brings them for sale in public auction after the approval of the customs authorities. before .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : AIR1999SC1795; 1999(65)ECC5; 1999(111)ELT3(SC); JT1999(4)SC15; 1999(3)SCALE585; (1999)4SCC655
1. these civil appeals were admitted on 2.4.96 with a direction to post along with civil appeal nos. 7916-7917 of 1995. when these appeals came up for final disposal on 16.2.99 they were delinked from the other appeals and the connected appeals were dismissed leaving the question of law open on the ground that the tribunal followed its earlier common order in a batch of appeals and civil appeals filed against those orders were not prosecuted by the revenue.2. mr. bajpai, learned counsel appearing for the revenue, argued these appeals on merits and persuaded the court to hand down an order on merits.3. we find from the order under appeal that these are not different from the other cases in the sense that the tribunal has followed its earlier different orders in these appeals as well. moreover, these appeals were admitted, as noticed already, to be heard along with other connected appeals. we do not find any good ground to pass order on merits in these appeals alone as it is on fact that the appeals filed against the order of the tribunal relied on for passing the common order under appeals were dismissed by this court on the ground of limitation. mr. bajpai also brought to our notice that a three member bench had considered the issue in machine builders v. collector of central excise, bolpur and rendered a detailed judgment ultimately remanding the matter to the authorities.4. in these circumstances, we consider it appropriate to leave the question of law open to be decided in .....
Tag this Judgment!Court : Supreme Court of India
Reported in : AIR2000SC975; (2001)2GLR1091; JT2000(2)SC189; 2000(1)SCALE606; (2000)2SCC599; [2000]1SCR907; 2000(2)LC843(SC)
g.t. nanavati, j.1. in this special leave petition the judgment and order passed by the high court in special civil application no. 6707 of 1995 is challenged. the petitioner had filed the writ petition challenging the government notification dated 9-8-1995 and the resolution dated 27-7 1995 passed by the state legislature reducing the area of 'narayan sarovar chinkara sanctuary' from 765.79 sq. k.m. to 444.23 sq. k.m. the high court dismissed that petition.2. on 14-4 1981 the government of gujarat, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 18(1) of the wild life protection act, 1972, declared a part of the forest area in lakhphat taluka of kutch district as a 'wild life sanctuary.' the total area of the sanctuary was 765.79 sq. k.m. on 27-7-1993 it cancelled that notification and issued another whereby only a part of the said reserved forest was declared as the 'chinkara wild life sanctuary', the area so declared was 94.87 sq. k.m. the said two notifications were challenged by the petitioner by filing writ petitions in the gujarat high court. the high court quashed both those notifications. the result was that the earlier notification dated 14-4-1981 was revived. thereafter the state government made certain inquires and decided to delimit the area of that sanctuary as it was found to be more than required and the delimitation was likely to be helpful in systematically developing that area economically by making use of its mineral wealth. it then moved the state .....
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