- (1.) Challenge in this appeal, by special leave, is to the final judgment and order dated 12th August, 2005 rendered by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Trade Tax Revision No. 945 of 1998. By the impugned judgment, the High Court has allowed the Revision Petitions filed by the Commissioner, Trade Tax, U.P., Lucknow (for short "the Commissioner") against a common order passed by the Trade Tax Tribunal, Varanasi (for short "the Tribunal") in appeals preferred by the Commissioner against the order passed by the Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) in favour of the appellant (hereinafter referred to as "the Dealer") in respect of the assessment year 1988-89.
(2.) Briefly stated, the material facts giving rise to the present appeal are as follows: The Dealer, incorporated as a private limited company, is engaged in the manufacture of aluminium 'properzi' redraw rods from aluminium ingots. The word 'properzi' is the name of the person who had invented the process of manufacturing redraw rods. According to the Dealer, the process involves pouring of molten metal from pot room crucible directly in the melting furnace, which is then transferred to holding furnace. The material is then degassed, fed through a cast iron spout into the groove of a water cooled circular steel-casting wheel, which rotates at a slow speed. The top portion of the grooved steel mould is covered by steel belt and during one half rotation of the casting wheel, the metal gets solidified and comes out in the form of a continuous bar of about 12 sq. cms. cross section at a temperature of 4400 to 3800 centigrade. This bar is then fed through a 13 strand 'properzi' mill where the thickness of cross section is progressively reduced and finally a 9.5 mm diameter redraw rod comes out, which is then wound on the drum of a mechanical coil. The stand of the Dealer is that 'properzi' rods of the size of 9.5 mm have no use in the market inasmuch as except for being used as raw material in the manufacture of wires of different sizes, it cannot be used as such for any other purpose.
(3.) For the assessment years 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86 and 1987-88, the 'properzi' rods manufactured by the Dealer were classified by the Assessing Authorities to be a metal/primary metal and were assessed at the rate of 2% plus surcharge at 10% of the said rate in terms of Entry 24 of the Schedule to the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948 (for short "the U.P. Act"), as inserted by Notification No. ST-II-6075/X-6(9)/83 dated 30th September, 1983. The said Entry reads as follows: (24) All kinds of ore, metals, scraps and alloys including sheets and circles used in the manufacture of brass wares, except those included in any other entry or any other notification issued under the Act.;