- (1.) These appeals by special leave are against the judgment dated 5/2/1976 in Tax Revision Cases Nos. 18 and 19 of 1975 by the High court of A. P. The two questions answered by the High court relate to the assessment years 1968-69 and 1969-70 which are: (1 Whether dry cell batteries manufactured by the assessees are exigible to tax under Entry 3 or Entry 38 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 (2 Whether the arc carbons manufactured by the assessees are exigible to tax under Entry 4 or Entry 38 of the First Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957 the tribunal held that the "dry cell batteries" are taxable under Entry 38 except only those which are specified for use in transistors, which alone are taxable under Entry 3; and the "arc carbons" are taxable under Entry 4. The revisions filed by the assessee have been dismissed by the High court. Hence these appeals by special leave. The connected matters are similar and are disposed of in terms of this judgment.
(2.) The relevant entries with reference to which the above questions are to be decided, at the material time, were as follows: "3.Wireless reception At the point of first 12 paise in the instruments and sale in the State rupee apparatus, radios,and radio gramophones, electrical valves, accumulators,amplifiers and loudspeakers and spare parts and accessories thereof. 4. Cinematographic -do- 12 paise in the equipment including rupee cameras, projectors and sound recording and reproducing equipment, lenses, films and parts and accessories required for use therewith. * * * 38. All electrical goods, -do- 8 paise in the instruments, apparatus rupee and appliances including fans and lighting bulbs, electrical earthenware and porcelain and all other accessories. "the assessee contends for taxing of these articles at the lower rate under Entry 38 and not at the higher rate under Entry 3 or Entry 4.
(3.) We shall first consider the question relating to "arc carbons". The only argument on behalf of the assessee is that the carbon is used up and, therefore, it cannot be an accessory of the equipment specified in Entry 4. On this basis, the assessee claims that arc carbon used in the equipment is taxable under Entry 38 at a lesser rate. The High court following its earlier decision held that arc carbons manufactured by the assessee were assessable under Entry 4 and not Entry 38. That view of the Andhra Pradesh High court has been approved by this court in Annapurna Carbon Industries Co. v. State of A. P. and it was held that arc carbons fell within Entry 4 of the First Schedule to the Act. It was held by this court that: "The meaning to this entry can only be satisfactorily determined in the light of the language of the entry itself considered in the context in which it occurs. The Entry No. 4 occurs in a schedule in which descriptions of goods to be taxed indicate that the expression 'required for use therewith' has been employed for equipment or accessories connected with the main purpose. For instance, in Entry No. 5, the expression occurs at the end as follows: 270 'photographic and other cameras and enlargers, lenses, films and plates, paper and cloth and other parts and accessories required for use therewith. ' Apparently, the deciding factor is the predominant or ordinary purpose or use. It is not enough to show that the article can be put to other uses also. It is its general or predominant user which seems to determine the category in which an article will fall. * * * Again, Entry No. 3 for 'wireless reception instruments and apparatus' includes 'electrical valves, accumulators, amplifiers and loudspeakers and spare parts and accessories thereof. The words 'parts thereof" are used in several entries, such as Entry No. 6 for clocks, timepieces and watches, Entry No. 10 for dictaphones and other similar apparatus for recording sound, and Entry No. 11 for sound transmitting equipment such as telephones and loudspeakers. Our object in indicating the nature of entries, amidst which Entry No. 4 occurs, is to show that some precision has been attempted in making the entries. When it was intended to confine the entry to particular gadgets and 'parts thereof the entry said. so. Of course, even where an entry relates to parts manufactured for use for a particular kind of instrument or gadget only, the article, manufactured to serve as a part of a particular kind of apparatus, would not cease to be covered by the intended entry simply because a purchaser makes some other use of it. We have to find the intention of the framers of the schedule in making the entry in each case. The best guide to their intentions is the language actually employed by them. We find that the term "accessories" is used in the schedule to describe goods which may have been manufactured for use as an aid or addition. A sense in which the word accessory is used is given in Webster's Third New International Dictionary as follows: 'an object or device that is not essential in itself but that adds to the beauty, convenience, or effectiveness of something else'. Other meanings given there are : 'supplementary or secondary to something of greater or primary importance', 'additional', 'any of several mechanical devices that assist in operating or controlling the tone resources of an organ'. 'accessories' are not necessarily confined to particular machines for which they may serve as aids. The same item may be an accessory of more than one kind of instrument. It will be noticed that the entry we have to interpret includes 'parts' as well as "accessories" which are required for use in projectors or other cinematographic equipment. We think that. the A. P. High court correctly held that the main use of the arc carbons under consideration was duly proved to be that of production of powerful light used in projectors in cinemas. The fact that they can also be used for searchlights, signalling, stage lighting, or where powerful lighting for photography or other purposes may be required, could not detract from the classification to which the carbon arcs belong. That is determined by their ordinary or commonly known purpose or user. This, as already observed by us, is evident from the fact that they are known as 'cinema arc carbons' in the market. This finding was enough, in our opinion, to justify the view taken by the A. P. 271 High court that the goods under consideration are covered by the relevant Entry No. 4. ";