CC Vs. BLOSSOMS BIO-TECH. LTD.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The revenue is aggrieved with the Commissioner (Appeals) Order -in -Appeal C. Cus.: 681/98 dated 15.7.98, by which he has granted the benefit of S. No. 144 and list 8 appearing in Customs Notification No. 11/97 with the heading "Ultra violet retardent fibre glass plastic sheets", after due examination of the item and the certificate issued by the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, certifying that UV stabilised woven shade polypropylene (plastic) net imported by them is used for green house application and acts like sheet, and that it maintains all the characteristic of plastic net while at the same time retaining the characteristics of plastic sheet. The Ministry of Commerce vide their certificates dated 28.1.98 and 3.2.98 also clarified that this 'net' is required for the green house installed by them. The revenue contends that the item is in the form of 'woven polypropylene shade nets' and not 'plastic sheets' and their classification are also under different heading, Therefore, the benefit of notification cannot be extended to them.

(2.) We have heard Shri A. Jayachandran, Ld. DR. None appeared for the respondent despite notice sent by the revenue. Ld. DR reiterated the grounds raised in the memo of appeal.

(3.) On a careful consideration, we notice that the Commissioner (Appeals) has examined the matter in terms of notification and has held that the item satisfies the description in S.No. 144 in list 8 and is required for use in a green house. The requirement appellant has to produce a certificate from the Ministry of Commerce as per the requirement of the notification. The appellants have also produced a certificate from the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology which certified that the item maintains all the characteristic of a plastic net while at the same time retaining the characteristics of plastic sheet. The Commissioner also has noted from the catalogue that the item is described as woven polypropylene shade cloth. He has noted that the material is made of polypropylene - - a plastic, which is not other than a sheet and he has held that it is also in the form of net hence the benefit of notification cannot be rejected. He has also examined the term 'sheet' as appearing in McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (1974 edition), in which sheet is defined as 'a wide, thin and usually flexible piece of material'. The Chambers English Dictionary defines it as 'a large wide expanse or thin piece. As per the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, a sheet is defined as 'a bloc of regular geomatric shape' (as per note 10 to Ch. 39 and note 9 to Ch. 40). Therefore, the Commissioner (Appeals) Commissioner (Appeals) concluded that the term 'sheet' would refer only to the shape of an article and not as to whether it is solid or not, as it appears to be the reason for the lower authority's rejection. He has noted the understanding in common parlance also and held that when someone refers to a sheet it is not always with reference to a solid object (for example 'a sheet of water'). Therefore, he has concluded that since the material is woven in the form of a net it has to be held as a sheet only as it also understood as a 'sheet'. In this regard, he has referred to para 1651 of S. Sarkar's Words and Phrases of Excise and Customs (2nd edition), which refers to the term 'warpsheet' which states that it is Rayon Tyre Yarn arranged in parallel rows lengthwise and loosely held together by cotton threads running breadthwise. He has noted that even bed sheets are called so even though they are made of wooven yarn and are not in solid state. Hence, he has come to the conclusion that the term 'sheet includes even net and hence has extended the benefit of the said notification.