PRAKASH KRISHNA, J. - (1.) THE only point mooted in the present revision is whether 'tinted glass sheets manufactured by the applicant is liable to be taxed as 'goods or wares' made of glass under the notification No. 5784 dated 7.9.1981 being Entry No. 4 or as unclassified item.
(2.) THE dispute relates to the assessment year 1996 -97 under the U.P. Trade Tax Act. The facts of the case are not much in dispute and may be noted in brief. The applicant is engaged in the manufacture and sale of sheet glass, figured glass, neutral glass tubes in its factory situate at Iradatganj, Allahabad. The Assessing Authority during the course of the assessment proceeding found that one of the items manufactured by it in furnace No. 4 is tinted sheet glass, which according to it is unclassified item taxable at the rate of 15 per cent. The case set out by the dealer applicant was that the tinted sheet glass is nothing but 'glass' in its primary sense and as such it is covered by the notification No. 5784 dated 7.9.1981. The contention of the dealer has not found favour by any of the three authorities below including the tribunal. Challenging the order of the tribunal dated L'2nd August, 2003, the present revision has been filed under Section 11 of the U.P. Trade Tax Act. in the memo of revision the following six questions have been framed: i. Whether the entry 'All goods and wares made of glass', excludes plain glass panes and treated the same as unclassified item, the Trade Tax Tribunal and lower authorities were justified to tax tinted/plain glass panes as declared commodity? ii. Whether in view of common parlance as well as user of the tinted/colon red glass panes and plain glass panes are identical, in spite of that the tax has been imposed on the coloured/tinted glass panes as declared commodity instead of unclassified item? iii. Whether plain glass panes does not cover tinted/coloured glass panes? iv. Whether once the entry plain glass panes is specifically excluded from the entry 'All goods and wares made of glass' the authorities were not justified in imposing tax on plain glass panes (coloured and tinted glass panes) as goods made of glass wares? v. Whether in view of the tact that by mixing tinch of colours no new commercial commodity comes into existence as tinted/coloured glass panes is a plain glass panes, still the tax can be imposed as declared commodity instead of unclassified item? vi. Whether in any view of the matter, the order passed by the Trade lax Tribunal is justified? Before proceeding further it is desirable to notice the relevant Entry No. 4 in the aforestated notification No. 5784 dated 7.9.81 which reads as follows: 4. All goods and wares made of glass but not including plain glass panes, optical lenses, hurricane lantern chimneys, bottles and phials, glass -beads, clinical syringes, thermometers and scientific apparatus and instruments made of glass.
(3.) IT may be noted that the authorities below have also noticed the manufacturing process of tinted glass sheet. It has noticed that the manufacturing unit of the applicant was surveyed by the Special Investigation Branch Unit Allahabad, and in that survey it was found that the tinted glass sheet is being manufactured in a separate unit and in the raw material cobalt oxide, carbon oxide, iron oxide etc. are mixed to manufacture the tinted coloured glass sheet. A special manufacturing process is adopted. The density and transparency of the tinted coloured glass sheet is different from that of ordinary sheet glass. The solar absorption power of tinted coloured glass sheet is much more than plain sheet glass and in the market or in common parlance 'tinted glass sheet' is not treated as 'plain sheet glass'.;