COMMISSIONER, VAT Vs. TANEJA MINES PVT. LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondent who is registered vide TIN No. 07440197334 with the Sales Tax Department is stated to be engaged in the business of importing and selling the pictures of various deities and religious icons having images of Lord Krishna, Lord Hanuman, Lord Mahavira, Lord Rama, Lord Vishnu, Maa Durga, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Cross, Om, Swastik, etc., on gold plated nickel foils. The respondent is also engaged in the business of procuring metallic, acrylic and wooden frames, nuts and bolts, screws, clips, etc. locally and selling the foils after putting them into the frames. The case of the respondent is that the items in question are religious pictures not for use as calendars and, thus, covered by Entry No. 45 of the First Schedule and consequently exempt from tax. The said Entry reads as follows :-

(2.) The Commissioner, VAT rejected the contention of the respondent that the framed religious pictures dealt with by the respondent fell within the ambit of Entry No. 45 of the First Schedule of the DVAT Act and thus were exempt from tax and held that the pictures in question were "General Unclassified Goods" thereby attracting tax @ 12.5% u/s 4(1)(e) of the DVAT Act, 2004. Consequently, the determination order was passed against the respondent who went in appeal before the Appellate Tribunal.

(3.) The Appellate Tribunal, after a detailed discussion as to the connotation of the words "religious/religion" and "picture" as contained in various dictionaries and the Macropaedia New Encyclopedia Britannica 15th Edition and after considering the contentions of the parties, including the contention of the counsel for the respondent that the principle of ejusdem generis applied by the Commissioner while interpreting the Entry 45 was not at all applicable in the instant case, held that the 'religious pictures' dealt with by the respondent which cannot be used as 'calendars' fell under Entry 45 of the First Schedule, i.e. under the list of exempted commodities. Dissatisfied with the findings of the Tribunal, the department has preferred the present appeal against the order of the Tribunal.