BLUE STAR LTD. Vs. UNION OF INDIA (UOI)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Vide show cause notice 31-7-1986 issued by the Respondent/Revenue the Revenue sought to levy duty on 'walk-in cooler'. The period covered was July 1981 to 7-2-1986. At the relevant time the limitation provided Under Section 11A was six months. On that reckoning the period covered in the show cause notice, except six days of period prior 1986, was beyond the period of limitation. For this reason, in the show cause notice, the Revenue invoked the provision of proviso to Section 11A in order to take the advantage of extended period of limitation contained therein. A Walk-in cooler consists of an insulated room with a door. A cooling unit is fixed on the top panel of this enclosure and cool air is blown in to maintain low temperature therein. This cooling room consists of an enclosure made of insulated panels which are brought to the site of the customer and are put together along with strips and joining material to make the enclosure air tight. The top panel which is sent to the supplier of the cooling unit, is received after the cooling unit is affixed thereon and the top panel with the cooling unit affixed thereon is put on top of the enclosure for sealing the top. The door is also fixed and the entire enclosure is made air tight. The cool air is blown in from the top through the cooling unit. The entire assembly of the insulating panels together with the cooling unit, which are set up at the site of the customer, is described as a Walk-in cooler.

(2.) The question on merits was as to whether the part of walk-in coolers were covered by Item No. 29A of the Tariff Entry under the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. This Entry reads as under:

(3.) This issue had come up for determination at different levels. Earlier the opinion of the High Courts, in this behalf, was that even the parts of Walk-in coolers would not be covered by the entry 'parts of the appliances and material of class'.... Refrigerator and air conditioned appliances. One such judgment in the case of Mother India Refrigeration Industries Pvt. Ltd. v. Superintendent of Central Excise and Ors., 1980 6 ELT 600 (All.) was rendered by Allahabad High Court. This judgment is dated 4-11-1978. The aforesaid view was reiterated by the Allahabad High Court itself in another judgment which was rendered on 27-11-1984 [: 1985 (21) E.L.T. 692 (All.)]. As on the date of show cause notice, the aforesaid view was the prevailing view. However, this Court in the case of Frick India Ltd. v. Union of India, 1990 48 ELT 627 overruled the aforesaid decision and held that the parts of the Walk-in coolers would be exigible to excise duty as they would be covered under Item No. 29A.